When you start your self-employment, the Finnish Centre for Pensions will send you an information letter. The letter includes instructions on how you are to take out obligatory pension insurance for self-employed workers and how you are to insure your employees, if you have any. This way, despite being busy with starting your business, you will not forget to take out pension insurance set up in law.
The information letter is sent to all self-employed workers that register themselves in the Tax Administration’s register of persons liable to pay value added tax. Do not wait for the letter, however, but sort out your pension matters already in advance, when you plan starting your own business.
What if I don’t have insurance?
If you have not taken out insurance for your self-employment, the Finnish Centre for Pensions will order you to correct the defaulted insurance contribution payments within a reasonable time. You can insure your self-employment in retrospect for the ongoing year and three years before that. Your pension funds will not grow for uninsured work that you have done further back in time.
If you do not correct your default insurance payments, the Finnish Centre for Pensions will take out insurance on your behalf and and at your expense with one of the pension insurance companies.
The rules are almost the same for insuring employees. If you employ workers in your company but do not take out insurance for them, the Finnish Centre for Pensions will order you to correct your negligence.
If you, as the employer, do not take out insurance for your employees although you have been ordered by the Finnish Centre for Pensions to do so, the Finnish Centre for Pensions will
- take out insurance for your employees on your behalf and at your expense with one of the pension insurance companies, or
- notify the insurance company of the insurance data of a temporary employer.
The insurance contributions for the period that you have neglected to take out insurance can be increased to the double.
Together with other authorities, the Finnish Centre for Pensions supervises that self-employed workers and employers take out pension insurance for themselves or their employees.