Transfer tax (varainsiirtovero)

As a buyer, set aside 1.5% of a share-based apartment’s debt-free price or 3% of real property’s purchase price. For a share-based apartment, meaning the shares of a block-of-flats or terraced-house company, the tax is calculated on the debt-free price, which includes both the selling price and the share of the housing company’s loan (the debt share). For a detached house and other real property, the percentage is 3 and it is calculated on the purchase price.

The tax must be paid and reported on your own initiative within two months of signing the deed of sale. In a deal made through an estate agent, the tax is usually paid at the time of the deal, with the agent handling the remittance. In a real-property sale, it is worth taking care of the tax in good time, because registration of title (lainhuuto) is applied for within six months and the payment receipt is needed as an attachment.

Count the tax into your total costs already when making your budget: it comes on top of the purchase price and other buying costs. For example, on a debt-free price of 200,000 euros the tax on a share-based apartment is 3,000 euros, and on real property of 300,000 euros the tax is 9,000 euros. The percentages were lowered on 12 October 2023, so for deals older than this you will find higher figures online (previously 2% and 4%).

A first-time buyer also pays the transfer tax. The earlier first-home exemption was abolished on 1 January 2024, so set aside the tax in your budget even if you are buying your first home. The exemption now applies only to deals whose deed of sale was signed by 31 December 2023 at the latest.