Have you bought a property? Remember to pay your transfer tax and apply for the registration of ownership

Last year, the National Land Survey of Finland received around 110,000 title applications, and the transfer tax had not been paid for up to 30 percent of them. However, the transfer tax must be paid by the time the title application is started. Moving forward, the National Land Survey of Finland will automatically remind its clients about the tax.

14.2.2022
Vanha valkoinen omakotitalo puiden keskellä.
Photo:
Julia Hautojärvi

After a property transaction, the buyer must register the property’s new ownership data in the title and mortgage register maintained by the National Land Survey of Finland (NLS). The registration or title application must be made within six months after signing the deed of sale or other contract.

To register the ownership, the transfer tax must be paid when starting the title application process. This same principle applies to properties on leased plots with a facility identifier code whose leasehold rights are being transferred.

Automatic reminder for private customers

The National Land Survey of Finland (NLS) receives information about transfer tax payments from the Tax Administration. If we do not receive the payment information within seven days of submitting the title application, an automatic reminder will be sent to the customer’s email by the NLS.

The reminder will be sent to those private customers who have a pending title application or a transfer application of special rights. The tax payment will only be approved when the transfer tax notification has also been submitted.

What should I do if I get a reminder from the NLS? 

  • Visit MyTax and check that the transfer tax has been paid.
  • Make sure that the notification has been submitted correctly. You can find the instructions on the Tax Administration’s website.
  • Check that you have attached all the necessary appendices to your application, such as a receipt of the purchase price or an estate inventory. Our Asiointiapuri service assistant will help you check which attachments are needed. You can deliver any missing services through our e-services.
  • Do not deliver any tax documents to the National Land Survey of Finland – the NLS receives this information directly from the Tax Administration.

The robot speeds up the processing of applications

Sending supplementation requests due to unpaid transfer taxes to a third of the applicants has slowed down the processing of title applications at the National Land Survey of Finland. However, the new automation will help cut down the waiting time for customers.

“By commissioning this robot, we can decrease the share of manual work in property registrations, and one work stage will be taken out completely. Our work will become more efficient, we can contact our customers faster and improve our services as the time spent on processing one application decreases,” says Director Janne Murtoniemi.

“The robot will give us new opportunities to continue utilising automation in the future – for example, when processing registration matters for apartments,” a satisfied Murtoniemi says.

Further information 

Director Janne Murtoniemi, +358 40 710 8862, firstname.lastname@nls.fi

Press release
Real estate purchases
Customer Service
Links

News and articles