Public Business Support and Funding

TABLE OF CONTENTS PREVIOUS CHAPTER TAXATION NEXT CHAPTER TAXATION Finns are happy to pay tax to provide top-level public health care, free schooling and other valuable public services to all residents in the country. Taxation is being harmonized within the European Eco- nomic Area. However, the individual states have extensive autonomy in taxation, and it has a central role in national economic policy. Business taxation in Finland varies by company type. The profit of private businesspersons and self-employed per- sons is taxed as entrepreneur's income. The profit of a business partnership is taxed as income of the joint own- ers in accordance with the regulations on the taxation of joint owners of business partnerships. Corporations such as limited companies are taxpayers themselves, and they pay a corporation tax on their profit. A dividend paid by a corporation is taxed as income of the shareholders. The amount of tax is calculated based on a company's prof- it and its net assets. Taxpayers are expected to make ad- vance payments on their projected income, to be derived from the operation of a trade or business, agriculture, or other activity in order to generate income, including rental operations and receipts of capital gains. A company needs to be able to present receipts, invoices, and other reliable documents from all business operations. Value-added tax must, almost without exception, be paid for the sale of goods and services through business oper- ations in Finland. VAT taxpayers have reporting and pay- ment obligations and are expected to submit periodic tax returns to report all VAT information for each taxable peri- 31

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