The household tax deduction and hired home help
Finland lets you deduct part of what you pay for work done in your home. It is one of the most valuable and least understood benefits available to households here, and it applies to a lot of the everyday help people book through platforms like GigsLo.
What the deduction actually covers
The deduction applies to the labour portion of work carried out in a home you live in or use — your permanent home, a second home, or a holiday property. It does not cover materials, equipment hire, or travel charged separately.
That labour-only rule is the single most important thing to understand. If a helper charges you for paint and for painting, only the painting part is deductible.
- Cleaning and other household work
- Care and nursing work performed at home
- Renovation, repair and maintenance of the home
- Yard and garden work at the property
Who can claim it
You claim it as a private individual against your own taxes. Spouses can split the claim between them, and each person has their own annual maximum, so a couple can often deduct roughly twice what one person could.
You must have actually paid for the work — the deduction follows the payer, not the person who lives there.
Paying a company versus paying a person
There are two routes, and they are treated differently. If you pay a company or a self-employed person registered in the prepayment register (ennakkoperintärekisteri), you deduct a percentage of the invoiced labour.
If you pay a private individual directly as wages, you deduct a percentage of the wage plus the employer contributions you paid — and you also take on employer obligations, including reporting the wage to the Incomes Register.
For most people booking occasional help, the first route is far simpler. Ask a helper whether they invoice as a business before you agree on a price, because it changes both your paperwork and your deduction.
Rates and limits change — check the current year
The percentage you can deduct, the annual maximum, and the deductible excess (omavastuu) are set annually and have been adjusted several times in recent years. Any specific figure quoted on a blog goes stale quickly.
Before you plan around a number, check the current year's rate directly at vero.fi. It is the only source that is guaranteed to be right for the tax year you are in.
What to keep
Keep the invoice or receipt showing the labour cost separately from materials, the date the work was done, the address where it was done, and the business ID of whoever did it.
You claim it in MyTax (OmaVero), either during the year to adjust your tax card or afterwards on your tax return. Keep the documents even after claiming — the Tax Administration can ask for them later.
How this works with GigsLo
GigsLo is a marketplace: the agreement is between you and the helper, and payment runs through the platform with the money held until the job is done.
Whether a given job qualifies depends on the helper's own tax status, so ask before you accept an offer. Helpers who invoice as a business and are in the prepayment register are the straightforward case.
Frequently asked questions
Does the household tax deduction cover cleaning?+
Yes. Cleaning and other household work carried out in your home is one of the categories the deduction covers, for the labour cost only.
Can I deduct moving help?+
Work done at the home — packing, carrying, assembling and disassembling furniture in the property — can qualify. Pure transport between addresses generally does not.
Do materials count?+
No. Only the labour portion is deductible. Paint, parts, and equipment hire are excluded, which is why the invoice should separate them.
Where do I claim it?+
In MyTax (OmaVero), either by adjusting your tax card during the year or by adding it to your tax return afterwards.
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