Information for pension recipients

 When you receive your pension decision, ask the tax authorities to calculate a withholding percentage for your pension income. For the calculation of the tax rate, you will need to provide the authorities with your pension decision as well as information about other forms of income and related withholdings. The tax authorities will send the tax card directly to Elo.

Altogether 40% tax will be withheld from your pension if your tax information is not available prior to the first pension payment. Any excessive withholding tax will be repaid to your account once Elo receives the tax card for your pension income as calculated by the tax authorities. The repayment of excessive taxes is, however, only possible as they relate to pension payments made during the current year.

 

You do not need to notify the tax authorities about any pensions paid to you. Elo handles that on your behalf at the end of each year. We send the same information to you by letter once a year or you can check it from Elo’s Online Service >

After the first year in which your pension is paid out, Elo will automatically receive your withholding percentage directly from the tax authorities. You will also receive the percentage information from the tax authorities for your own records. You will not need to submit your copy of the tax information to Elo.

Make sure to get your withholding percentage checked by the tax authorities if there are any changes to the amount of your pension or other forms of income.

 

You can increase the tax percentage for your pension if you wish to pay more than the withholding rate calculated by the tax authorities. Increase your tax rate in Elo’s Online Service >

You are free to work alongside old-age pension without any limitations. Your employment relationship must have ended, however, in order for you to begin receiving your pension.

 

Once you are receiving the pension, you can enter into a new employment relationship. If you continue to work for your previous employer while you are receiving your pension, you must change the terms and conditions of your work arrangement. You can, for example, change from full-time work to part-time work.

 

A self-employed person may, alongside old-age pension or early old-age pension, continue their entrepreneurial activities without restriction and the obligation to take YEL insurance or pay insurance contributions. If desired, a self-employed person can opt to take voluntary YEL insurance alongside the pension to earn additional pension for the continuing activities.

 

Work done alongside pension accrues pension at a rate of 1.5% per year. Send a new application for old-age pension to apply for this amount of additional accrual to be paid once you reach your highest pensionable age. The easiest way to fill the application is through Elo’s Online Service. Log in to the Online Service using your personal online banking codes.

When you are receiving partial early old-age pension, you can but are not required to work alongside the pension. If you decide to work alongside partial early old-age pension, your employment relationship must be insured or, if you are self-employed, your YEL insurance must be valid.

 

Pension from work done alongside partial early old-age pension accrues at a rate of 1.7% per year for those under the age of 63 and 1.5% per year after reaching the age of 63. You will be required to apply separately for old-age pension after receiving partial early old-age pension.  Apply for old-age pension through Elo’s Online Service.

You can work part-time alongside disability pension and partial disability pension. A recipient of the full disability pension can earn up to 40% of his/her earnings level prior to the pension period. For partial disability pension, the corresponding earnings limit is 60%. You can check your personal earnings limit in our Online Service.

 

The return to work of a disability pension recipient is facilitated by special legislation. Even if your individual earnings limit were smaller, you can always earn at least 922.42 euros per month (in 2023).

 

The pension payments can be suspended if your earnings exceed the earnings limitation for several consecutive months. The pension can be suspended for a minimum of three months and maximum of two years. After a period of suspension, you will start to receive the pension without a new assessment of your work ability if your work has ended or your earnings have dropped below the limit. Any pension that is suspended for more than two years will be discontinued. The conditions for suspension are monitored on a monthly basis.

 

If you begin working and your earnings exceed the earnings limit calculated for you, please notify Elo immediately in order to avoid the pension having to be suspended retroactively later on and for any unduly paid pension payments to be paid back. We also need to be informed when you work ends.

 

Contact us

Earnings monitoring for pension recipients, telephone +358 (0)20 694 717 (weekdays 8 a.m.–5 p.m.).

  

Any entrepreneurial activities carried out alongside disability pension or partial disability pension must be insured under YEL if the conditions for insuring are otherwise fulfilled. The confirmed YEL income must not exceed your earnings limit.

 

Work done alongside pension accrues additional pension at a rate of 1.5% per year. You can apply for this amount of additional accrual to be paid when your pension changes to old-age pension provided that your gainful employment has ended. In any other case, the additional accrual amount is paid once your gainful employment ends.

 

The total earnings for someone receiving a part-time pension can be a minimum of 35% and maximum of 70% of the previously established earnings from full-time work. The part-time pension decision states the exact earnings limits between which your earnings must remain while receiving the part-time pension. The earnings limits are adjusted annually in accordance with the relevant index.

 

A change in the earnings from part-time work may affect the amount of the part-time pension. The amount of the pension will be adjusted if the earnings change by more than 15%. In order to retain eligibility for the part-time pension, even after changes, the earnings must stay between 35 and 70% of the established earnings from full-time work. A self-employed person cannot change the YEL income while receiving the part-time pension. Part-time pension will be discontinued if the criteria for eligibility are no longer met. The pension can also be discontinued retroactively and, in this case, any unduly paid pension payments will need to be paid back.

 

Pension from earnings received alongside part-time pension accrues at a rate of 1.7% per year for those under the age of 63 and 1.5% per year after reaching the age of 63. Prior to the year 2017, any earnings paid alongside part-time pension accrued pension at a rate of 1.9% until the age of 63, when the accrual percentage increased to 4.5%.

 

If a recipient of part-time pension becomes incapable of working, he/she can be granted disability pension upon application. A separate application must also be submitted for old-age pension.

Any unduly paid pensions will, as a rule, be required to be paid back in full. Prior to the repayment process, the pension recipient has the opportunity to request reconsideration of the amount to be repaid on the basis of, for example, factors related to his/her financial situation.

 

If the decision is made to require the repayment of your pension, you can contact us and work out a payment plan. The amount to be repaid can be paid in one or multiple instalments or it can reduce the amount of currently paid pension or, if necessary, the amount will be collected through debt recovery. Remember, also, to contact Elo immediately if there is a need to adjust the agreed payment plan due to changes in your life situation.

 

Contact us

Earnings monitoring for pension recipients
telephone +358 (0)20 694 717 (weekdays 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.) 

 

Earnings-related pension is paid regardless of the pension recipient’s country of residence and nationality to either a Finnish or foreign bank account. The pension is transferred to another country via a Finnish bank in the currency of the receiving country.
 
Tax is withheld from pension paid to a pension recipient in a foreign country. The amount of the tax withheld is affected by, among other things, the individual’s nationality and tax agreements.

If you want your pension paid to a bank account in a foreign bank, we will need the international IBAN account number and BIC code for the foreign bank in question.
 
Any payment information must also be submitted in writing, and the pension recipient must sign and mail the notification or return the relevant form via Elo’s Online Service.

Always let us know of any changes in your contact information to ensure that the payment of your pension will continue uninterrupted. Moving between different countries may also affect your taxation.


Moving abroad

Earnings-related pension accrued in Finland can be paid to all countries regardless of the nationality of the pension recipient. This concerns both one’s own pension and survivors’ pension.

Tax will be withheld from the pension in accordance with the relevant tax agreements.

Notify us of your foreign address and payment information

If you move abroad, notify us of your foreign address and possible change in the payment information for your pension. If you have submitted a notification of a permanent change of address to the Finnish authorities, inform us also of your intended relocation date, since the move may affect the taxation of your pension.

The pension is transferred to the foreign country via a Finnish bank. In order to pay your pension, we will need the international IBAN account number assigned by the foreign bank and the bank’s BIC code. The pension is transferred abroad primarily in the currency of the receiving country or, if you wish, in euros.

In addition to notifying us of your intent to move abroad, you must also provide us with your contact information while abroad. It is important that we are able to reach you by mail to ensure that the payment of your pension can continue uninterrupted.

You can submit a notification of a change in address through Elo’s Online Service >

Moving while abroad

If you relocate while abroad, you will need to submit a notification of a change in address to us. It is important that we are able to reach you by mail to ensure that the payment of your pension can continue uninterrupted. Moving from one foreign country to another may also affect the taxation of your pension.

Returning to Finland from abroad

If you permanently move back to Finland, notify us of your new address. The return to Finland from abroad may affect the taxation of your pension.

Anyone moving back to Finland must independently acquire a tax card for their pension. If you move back to Finland, you must acquire a tax card from the tax authorities as soon as possible for the payment of your pension. For the purposes of issuing a tax card, the tax authorities will need a report of all your income for the current year. You can get a certificate showing the amount of pension that has been paid to you during the current year from Elo's Online Service >

If you live abroad permanently, you must notify us of your address details once each year. We will send the residence notification form to those living abroad annually during December and January. Sign and return the residence notification to us, even if your address hasn’t changed during the past year.

The easiest way to return the residence notification is using the attachment submission option in Elo's Online Service >

If we do not receive your notification by the specified deadline, the pension payments will be suspended until we have received the notification.

The taxation of earnings-related pension is affected by, for example, whether or not the relocation was permanent or temporary. Furthermore, taxation is affected by one’s nationality and the possible tax agreements of the target country.

When a Finnish citizen is moving abroad, an advance tax can be levied on his/her pension for the year of relocation and subsequent three years. During that period, you will, therefore, be taxed as if you were living in Finland. After this period, you are considered a Finnish tax nonresident with a limited tax liability. In this case, Elo will ask the Finnish Tax Administration to provide a limited liability tax card for the payment of the pension.
 
On behalf of the pension recipient living abroad, Elo will apply for the withholding tax information for the pension payment at the commencement of the pension.
You get further information about the taxation of pension while abroad from the Finnish Tax Administration, tel. +358 (0)20 697 024 or their website.

In accordance with Finnish legislation, Finnish pensions are taxable in Finland, even if the recipients live abroad.  Thus, the pensions of those living abroad are taxed in the same manner as the pensions of those living in Finland. The tax rate is determined based on the individual’s income amount.  Finland has a tax agreement with more than 60 other countries. Usually, the tax agreements specify that any pensions paid from Finland are taxed in Finland.