Incomes Register

The Incomes Register is a national online database managed by the Finnish Tax Administration. It contains information about wages, benefits and pensions. The records are based on information reported by payers. Unemployment funds have the right to retrieve their members’ records from the Incomes Register to make decisions on their allowance applications. You can access your own records by logging into the Incomes Register at www.vero.fi/en/incomes-register/.  

What information do unemployment funds get from the Incomes Register?

The records we retrieve from the Incomes Register contain information about your pay and employment that affects your eligibility for benefits and the amount of your allowance. Examples include your pay and employment history before your unemployment or alternation leave as well as information about your income during your unemployment or alternation leave. We also use the Incomes Register to check whether you are receiving social benefits that could reduce the amount of your allowance or prevent us from paying you benefits.  

What information do employers report to the Incomes Register?

Employers have been reporting payroll information to the Incomes Register since January 2019. Employers have five calendar days from each pay day to upload the information to the Incomes Register. Employers can choose to report their employees’ wages at either a lower or a greater level of detail. At least the lower level of detail is mandatory for all employers. Reporting at the lower level of detail means reporting wages without itemisation. The greater level of detail involves breaking down employees’ wages into individual pay components. Employers can also choose to report other details to the Incomes Register voluntarily. Such details include, for example, information about employees’ absences and earnings periods. The Federation of Unemployment Funds in Finland has compiled a manual for employers, which explains what information unemployment funds need from the Incomes Register. You can find the manual here: Information that unemployment funds need from the Incomes Register (PDF)  

Why am I being asked to supply a wage certificate?

Although we usually get the information we need from the Incomes Register, we may still need to ask you to provide evidence of your pay and employment yourself in some circumstances. This may be because your employer has failed to upload your records to the Incomes Register or because the information in the register is not detailed enough in your case. If your employer has chosen to report payroll information at the greater level of detail and also provided additional details voluntarily, it is more likely that we find everything that we need in the Incomes Register.  

Does the Incomes Register contain information about business income?

The Incomes Register does not generally include information about business income. If you receive an income from running a business, you will need to enclose evidence of your business income with your application. If you are a so-called light entrepreneur, your business income may be included in the Incomes Register, but the level of detail may not be enough to enable us to process your allowance application. That is why we recommend that you enclose payslips with your application to avoid delays.