• Service description

    The State Treasury may grant a liable party a full or partial exemption from a payment or compensation due to the government. Exemptions are granted under the Act (529/1980) and Decree (530/1980) on Relief from Payments.

    The Act on Relief from Payments is a general statute; any receivables whose exemption or reduction is expressly decreed to fall under the authority of a state agency that is not the State Treasury do not fall under the purview of the Act or the State Treasury.

    The State Treasury CANNOT exempt you from, e.g.
    *taxes (chapter 7a of the Act on tax collection (veronkantolaki 2018/11))
    *maintenance allowances (section 21 of the Act on Maintenance Allowances)
    or *student loans (section 36 of the Act on financial aid for students (opintotukilaki 1994/65))

    Only a pardon by the President of the Republic of Finland may exempt you from punitive payments or compensation; these include:
    *forfeiture, such as financial gain from crime
    *fines

    The State Treasury MAY EXEMPT you from payments due to the government or compensation arising from
    *legal transactions, e.g. excess wages paid in connection to government employment relationships
    *crime (compensation defined in the sentence)

    This exemption may be granted if it does not infringe upon the government’s benefit, or if collection of the charge or compensation would be blatantly unreasonable.

    If you are employed by the government, you can be fully or partially exempted from compensation for damage that you have caused to the state during your employment.

  • Conditions for granting an exemption

    We resolve exemption matters based on case-specific overall consideration.

    The following matters will be taken into consideration

    * the quality of the act being compensated,
    * time elapsed from the event that caused the obligation to pay or compensate,
    * the amount due,
    * the partial payments made by the applicant,
    * the age of the applicant,
    * the financial situation and health of the applicant and
    * other special circumstances.

    We cannot grant exemptions for a payment or compensation that has been paid to the government before the exemption application was filed.

  • What to do

    You can apply for exemption by submitting a
    * free-form application or a
    * form available on the State Treasury website or at the State Treasury upon request.

    Send your application
    * directly to the State Treasury OR
    * to the collecting authority (e.g. the Tax Administration or the Legal Register Centre), who will then attach their own statement to the application.

    Attach a report on the grounds upon which you base your application, copies of the documents upon which the obligation to pay or compensate is based, as well as a report on the applicant’s financial situation (maksuvapautusasetus 2 § (section 2 of the Decree on Relief from Payments)).

    Copies of the case-specific documents attached to the application:

    * the document (sentence, decision, etc.) that acts as a basis for the obligation to pay
    * the tax certificates of the applicant and their spouse from three previous years
    * the latest pay statement of the applicant and their spouse
    * an account of any entrepreneurial income, pension income, unemployment allowance and other income and benefits (e.g. social assistance and child benefits)
    * an account of the applicant’s assets
    * an account of any other debts (the remaining debt and monthly payment must be indicated)
    * an account of housing expenses and benefits
    * an account of any decisions concerning child support
    * an account of any illnesses (latest doctor’s statement), unemployment, incapacity for work or other matters that bear a significance to the application
    * an account of exceptionally large health care expenses
    * any reports that may bear a significance to the processing of the matter.

    Note! Do not attach original documents to the exemption application you send to the State Treasury. We digitise all documents related to exemption matters sent to us and store them as electronic files. All paper documents are destroyed in connection with digitisation.

  • How do I apply for an exemption?

    You can submit a free-form application or a form for exemption. Forms are available at the State Treasury and in the  Forms and appendices tab on this webpage. The application is sent directly to the State Treasury or alternatively to the authority collecting the payment (e.g. the Tax Administration or the Legal Register Centre), who will then attach their own statement to the application.

    According to section 2 of the Decree on Relief from Payments (maksuvapautusasetus 2 §), you must attach a report of the grounds upon which you base your application, copies of the documents upon which the obligation to pay or compensate is based, as well as a report on the applicant’s financial situation to the application.

    The attachments must be as recent as possible, and they may be copies of the original documents.

  • Apply for exemption

    Application for exemption

    You can also submit a free-form application or form to apply for exemption. The forms may be printed by following the link below or collected at the State Treasury.

    Exemption application form >

    You must attach a report on the grounds upon which you base your application and a report on the applicant’s financial situation to the application. You must also attach a copy of the documents upon which the obligation to pay is based (maksuvapautusasetus 2 § (section 2 of the Decree on Relief from Payments)).

    Note. Do not attach original documents to the exemption application you send to the State Treasury. We digitise all documents related to exemption matters sent to us and store them as electronic files. All paper documents are destroyed in connection with digitisation.

    Case-specific documents attached to the application:

    • copy of the document upon which the obligation to pay is based
    • the tax certificates of the applicant and their spouse from three previous years
    • the latest pay statement of the applicant and their spouse
    • an account of any entrepreneurial income, pension income, unemployment allowance and other income
    • an account of the applicant’s assets
    • an account of any other debts (the remaining debt and monthly payment must be indicated)
    • an account of housing expenses and benefits
    • an account of any decisions concerning child support
    • an account of any illnesses (latest doctor’s statement), unemployment, incapacity for work or other matters that bear a significance to the application
    • an account of exceptionally large health care expenses
    • any reports that may bear a significance to the processing of the matter.

  • Legislation

    Act on Relief from Payments >

    Maksuvapautusasetus (Decree on Relief from Payments) >