Payments and Payment

The YEL payment, or the cost of your YEL insurance, is based on your YEL income. The amount of the payment is also affected by discount for new entrepreneurs. Additionally, the timing of payments and the number of installments affect your YEL payment.

Payment percentages

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health annually confirms the payment percentages used to calculate the YEL payment.
In 2026, the YEL payment is 24,40% of the confirmed YEL income

(2025: 24.10% of the confirmed YEL income for those aged 18-52, 25.60% of the confirmed YEL income for those aged 53-62 and 24.10% of the YEL income from the beginning of the year following the attainment of 63 years of age.)

See other confirmed payment details for 2026 in the Social Insurance Payments table.

YEL Payment Amount

You can estimate your YEL income using our calculator, which also shows the cost of your YEL insurance.

Discount for New Entrepreneurs

As a first-time entrepreneur, you receive a statutory 22% discount on your insurance payment for the first 48 months.

If your first YEL insurance started after 1.1.2001 and you still have discount months remaining, you will receive the remaining discount on your second YEL insurance as well. No discount is granted for the third YEL insurance period, even if the total duration is less than 48 months. You don’t need to track the remaining months yourself, as we always check your right to the discount.

If you switch from TyEL to YEL for the first time within the same company, your entrepreneurial activity is considered to have started at the time of the transition.

If the Finnish Centre for Pensions has taken out compulsory insurance for you as an entrepreneur, you are not eligible for the new entrepreneur discount.

Invoicing Methods and Due Dates

You can choose to receive your YEL invoice

as an e-invoice to the company's invoice processing system or online bank
as an e-invoice directly to your personal online bank. In this case, make an e-invoice agreement with your bank.
as an email invoice to the email address provided for invoicing
electronically to the OmaPosti service
as a paper invoice

Read the instructions on how to start using electronic invoices
The YEL insurance payment is due on the 20th day of the agreed calendar months or the next banking day.

You can pay your YEL insurance payment in 1–4, 6, or 12 installments. The number of installments affects your YEL payment through interest. You can also choose when your first payment of the year is due. The YEL payment is lowest when you pay the entire year's payment in one installment in January.

You can easily update the months when your payments are due in our online service.

Tax Deduction

YEL insurance payments are fully deductible in taxation and can be deducted in your personal, spouse's, or company's taxation, depending on who is designated as the payer of the YEL insurance. When the YEL payment is deducted in taxation, the actual amount payable is reduced.

If you need a certificate of paid YEL insurance payments, you can easily obtain it from our online service.

Payment extension

If you cannot pay your YEL invoice by the due date, request an extension in advance to avoid a €5 reminder fee.
In our online service, you can extend the payment period by up to six weeks from the original due date. Interest is charged for the entire extension period, calculated according to the insurance terms from the due date until payment. The Bank of Finland confirms the interest rate twice a year, on January 1 and July 1. The easiest way to request an extension is through Elo's online service.

Certificates

You can print, save, and send the following YEL certificates from Elo's online service

Validity and payment certificate
Income certificate
Income and payment certificate (e.g., for unemployment fund daily allowance application)
Certificate of paid payments
Printout of payment status

Flexibility in YEL Payments

In good years, you can increase your pension by making additional YEL payments, and in challenging years, you can temporarily reduce them. This is called YEL payment flexibility. It allows you to temporarily adjust your payments for one calendar year at a time, either up or down.
Flexibility is possible when

Your insurance is valid for the entire year with the same pension company
There are no outstanding payments on your insurance
You are not yet receiving an employment pension from Finland
You are not receiving a new entrepreneur discount

You can pay additional payments every year, but you can only utilize the payment reduction up to three times in seven years. The additional payment and your YEL insurance payment together must not exceed the upper limit of YEL income, which is 209,125.00 euros in 2025.
Additional payments are deductible either in the company's or the entrepreneur's taxation according to the payer information provided to the pension company.
Flexibility only affects the income used as the basis for the pension and does not affect other benefits determined by the confirmed income based on YEL income, such as sickness allowance.

Check the amount of flexibility and submit an application in Elo's online service.

YEL Payment Information in the Online Service

In the online service, you can

View your payment percentages and the YEL payment for the insurance period
See your current income and request changes if there is changes in your business affecting your work
View the invoicing status, including both open and paid YEL payments
Request an extension for an open YEL payment
Print payment certificates for various purposes
Check the validity of your new entrepreneur discount
Change the due dates of insurance payments

Frequently Asked Questions

You must pay your employment pension insurance contributions within five years from the start of the year following the date the payment was imposed. Otherwise, the payment expires. Expired employment pension insurance payments reduce your total income and thus affect the amount of your pension. Your annual income is adjusted based on the amount of unpaid payments.

This may be due to:
1. The wage coefficient automatically applied to your YEL insurance income at the turn of the year, confirmed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The wage coefficient ensures that your income remains at the level of general wage and price fluctuations.
2. The expiration of the new entrepreneur discount. If you have been entitled to the 22% discount for new entrepreneurs, it is valid for a maximum of 48 months. You can check the validity of your discount in the online service under insurance information.
3. Income review. YEL incomes that have not changed significantly in the past three years are subject to review. You will always receive a notification if you are included in the review. If you have not responded to the review in Elo's online service within the deadline, your income has been increased by 4,000 euros.

As a YEL insurance customer, you can see the validity of your discount in the online service under insurance information.

The income determined for a YEL-insured entrepreneur is not reported to the Income Register, but the salary paid to an entrepreneur is reported to the Income Register.
1. The salary paid to a shareholder of a limited company is reported to the Income Register (similar to the annual report previously made to the Tax Administration).
2. Withdrawals from a sole proprietorship are handled in the sole proprietorship's accounting and reported on the tax return.
When reporting entrepreneurs' salaries on the earnings report, it is important that the payer indicates in the Income Recipient Information section: Information on employment pension insurance: Entrepreneur's pension insurance (YEL).
Additionally, report in the Insurance Exception Type section:
• No insurance obligation (employment pension insurance)
• No insurance obligation (accident and occupational disease insurance)
• No insurance obligation (unemployment insurance)

The entrepreneur's salary is subject to health insurance contributions, so the Insurance Exception Type cannot be selected as: No insurance obligation (employment pension, health, unemployment and accident and occupational disease insurance), as this excludes all social insurance contributions.
The YEL insurance number, pension institution company identifier, and pension arrangement number are not reported to the Income Register.