More Finns struggle with back taxes and property tax debts

An increasing number of Finns are entering payment arrangements with the tax authority due to unpaid taxes, with the average tax debt for individual taxpayers now at €4,400, Yle reports.

Payment arrangements for taxes, including back taxes (known colloquially as mätkyt), have risen by 11% in the first half of this year compared to 2025. Over the past four years, the total number of such arrangements involving property taxes has surged by 74%.

Back taxes for around 340,000 Finns are due on 3 August, while 1.9 million must pay property taxes by 6 August. For some, both payments fall due in the same month, creating a significant financial burden.

“If money is tight and both are due in August, that can be a substantial sum,” said Juha Villman, senior inspector at the Finnish Tax Administration.

Last year, nearly half of all payment arrangements involved unpaid back taxes or property taxes. The average payment arrangement for a wage earner covers a debt of around €1,800.

In 2025, Finns had nearly €1 billion in tax debts under payment arrangements. Two-thirds of these arrangements were held by individual taxpayers—both wage earners and entrepreneurs—with entrepreneurs facing the greatest difficulties.

Entrepreneurs account for a third of all tax debt, totalling €4.5 billion, with value-added tax debts alone amounting to €2.1 billion. The Tax Administration attributes much of this to a lack of expertise, misunderstanding, or negligence among business owners.

“Decisions to become an entrepreneur are often made quickly and without sufficient understanding. In some fields, employees have been shifted to entrepreneurial status, and this is reflected in the tax debt statistics,” said Sanna Mäki-Karvia, customer relationship director at the Tax Administration.

Late payments incur a 9.5% penalty interest from the day after the due date. In 2025, late payments generated €14.1 million in interest.

Payment arrangements are available for those with temporary financial difficulties, provided they have no prior unresolved arrangements and are not in debt collection. The Tax Administration recommends using e-invoicing to avoid missing deadlines.