PREPARE FOR THE INCOMES REGISTER
This is how earnings reporting will change as of 1 January 2019.
WHAT IS THE INCOMES REGISTER?
- The Incomes Register is a national electronic database which includes all the information relating to salaries and wages, pensions and benefits of individual citizens.
- All payroll notifications concerning wages and salaries paid after 1 January 2019 shall be made in real time and per payment to the Incomes Register.
- The Incomes Register applies to anyone who pays wages or salaries: companies, associations, households and substitute payers. Wages paid by an entrepreneur to themselves shall also be reported to the Incomes Register.
- The Incomes Register will replace payroll notifications made to Ilmarinen, the Tax Administration, Kela and the Unemployment Insurance Fund. Ilmarinen will receive all the information it needs to calculate insurance contributions and pensions directly from the Incomes Register.
TIPS FOR PREPARING FOR THE INCOMES REGISTER IN 2018
1. The Incomes Register necessitates changes in companies’ payroll systems. You should check from your payroll system supplier that the required changes will be made during 2018.
2. You should also look into how the transfer to reporting earnings in real time changes your company’s payroll management processes.
3. Make sure that the authorised signatory information in, for example, the trade register extract is up to date for authorisations.
4. You can grant authorisations for the use of the Incomes Register as of 8 August. You may authorise, for example, another person or an accounting firm to use the Incomes Register on your behalf. The Incomes Register’s chat service provides help with questions on authorisations and other questions on the Incomes Register.
5. We recommend adopting e-invoicing before switching to the Incomes Register. Read more about e-invoicing
HOW TO TRANSFER TO THE INCOMES REGISTER
- Make sure that your payroll system is compatible with the Incomes Register. Find out what kind of connection you need to build to the Incomes Register.
- The easiest way to report your earnings payment data to the income Register is through an interface. You must obtain the required certificate, which will be available from 1 November 2018.
- You can also report your earnings payment data to the Incomes Register through the e-service at incomesregister.fi. Take care of the required authorisations now, and in any case by the end of 2018.
- You can submit your earnings payment data to the Incomes Register through the e-service at incomesregister.fi. Take care of the required authorisations now, and in any case by the end of 2018. The introduction of the Incomes Register offers a good opportunity to examine one’s options in terms of payroll management and reporting.
- At the Palkka.fi service you can pay salaries and wages and their employer costs. The free service submits the earnings payment data to the Incomes Register.
- The SuoraTyö.fi service submits the earnings payment data to the Incomes Register and takes care of all employer obligations. The service charges a small processing fee.
- Discuss with your accounting firm the practices relating to the adoption of the Incomes Register.
- You can already, during 2018, give the accounting firm authorisation to submit payroll reports.
- Companies grant authorisations through the suomi.fi service, while those who are not entered in the Register of Employers take care of them through the Katso service.
HOW TO REPORT EARNINGS AFTER THE INCOMES REGISTER TAKES EFFECT
HOW WILL EARNINGS REPORTING CHANGE IN 2019?
• All earnings paid after 1 January 2019 shall be reported to the Incomes Register. Any changes to the notifications shall also be made through the Incomes Register.
• Earnings payment data can be sent directly from the payroll system or via the Incomes Register’s user interface as a file or using an online form.
• Earnings data shall be reported to the Incomes Register primarily within five days from the payment. There are no euro-limits for reporting – all earnings are reported.
• The payer shall, if necessary, submit an employer’s separate report no later than on the fifth day of the calendar month following the payment month concerning information that does not pertain to individual earners. Read more about the employer’s separate report
• Notifications for earnings paid before 1 January 2019 and any changes to these will still be submitted to Ilmarinen.
• Annual notifiers will submit their last annual notification for 2018 to Ilmarinen by 31 January 2019. Monthly notifiers will submit a notification of salaries and wages paid in December 2018 to Ilmarinen by 20 January 2019.
HOW WILL COMPANIES BENEFIT FROM THE INCOMES REGISTER?
The Incomes Register simplifies payroll management
The Incomes Register will simplify companies’ payroll management, as payroll will be reported to only one place. Reporting will be more straightforward in this respect.
The Incomes Register replaces separate annual notifications
Separate annual notifications to different parties and authorities will no longer be necessary, which will reduce the volume of work for financial administration at the beginning of the year. This will benefit employers in particular.
TyEL contributions based on actual payroll
Earnings will be reported shortly after they are paid. As a result, companies’ TyEL contributions will always be based on the actual payroll instead of an estimate, like earlier.