Self-employed person to Finland
If you come to Finland from abroad and engage in business activities in Finland, you must insure your self-employment in Finland. You do this by taking out pension insurance under the Self-employed Persons’ Pensions Act (YEL insurance). Your nationality or the country from which you came to Finland makes no difference – you must take out YEL insurance. You earn pension for work you do and insure in Finland.
If you come to Finland for a short time to work, you may be a self-employed person who is posted here from another country. If so, while you work in Finland, you are covered by the social security of the country from where you were posted here, and you pay the statutory social insurance contributions in that country. If you are posted to Finland to work for a short time from an EU or a social security agreement country, you must have a certificate (for example, an A1 certificate) that shows that you are covered by the social security of the country from where you were posted to Finland. In this case, you will pay the social insurance contributions to the country that issued the certificate.
If you hire workers to work for your company in Finland, remember to pay the statutory social insurance contributions for them in Finland.
Pension insurance for the self-employed in Finland
As a self-employed person who resides and works in Finland, you must take out YEL insurance for your work yourself if
- you are between 18 and 69 years old,
- you work as a self-employed person or a light entrepreneur,
- you work as a self-employed person for at least four months after turning 18, and
- your estimated annual income from self-employment is at least 9,208.43 euros (in 2025).
Contact one of the earnings-related pension companies or pension funds to take out YEL insurance. You cannot replace YEL insurance with voluntary pension insurance.
Are you an employee or a self-employed person?
As far as the earnings-related pension acts are concerned, a person working is either an employee or a self-employed person. The distinction is not always clear-cut, and the parties involved cannot freely agree on whether the work is carried out within the framework of an employment relationship. The law defines the characteristics of an employment relationship, and if these are met, then it is considered to be an employment relationship. The employer must take out earnings-related pension insurance for its employees. The self-employed person takes out earnings-related pension insurance for themselves.
You are an employee if you, based on an agreement you have made with your employer, carry out work in person on behalf of your employer, work under your employer’s direction and supervision, and work in return for a wage or other remuneration. In short, you are an employee if you are a wage-earner. In the section ‘Working in Finland’ on this website, an employee is defined as a person in an employment relationship, a sailor or a member of a flight crew.
You can also be an employee if you are a freelancer or a light entrepreneur. Your title is irrelevant. Your work is insured under the Employees Pensions Act (TyEL) if you work in an employment relationship.
You are self-employed if you work for your own account and at your own risk and without being employed by someone in the private or public sector. In other words, you may be a freelancer, a light entrepreneur or work on a commission basis. You must take out YEL insurance also if you are a part-time self-employed person and meet the conditions for YEL insurance.
Insuring self-employment in different situations
Read the examples about different insurance scenarios for a self-employed person who comes to work in Finland from abroad.
As a self-employed person, you must take out pension insurance for your self-employment yourself. Contact one of the earnings-related pension companies or pension funds and, if you meet the requirements for the insurance, take out YEL insurance.
If you work regularly in Poland and only temporarily in Finland for six months, you can apply for an A1 certificate in Poland. If the Polish authorities find that you meet the conditions for getting an A1 certificate, and you get it for your work in Finland, you must insure this work in Poland. In this case, do not pay the statutory social insurance contributions for your work in Finland. While you are working in Finland, you are covered by the social security of Poland, the country from which you were posted to Finland.
If you do not have an A1 certificate for your work in Finland, you must take out YEL insurance for the length of your work in Finland.
If you usually work as a self-employed person in Finland and also in one or more other EU countries, you must have an A1 certificate from your country of residence. If you do, you will pay the statutory social insurance contributions for your self-employment in all countries only in the country that issued the certificate.
If you move out of Finland and your self-employment here ends, you no longer need YEL insurance. The pension you have earned in Finland stays in Finland, even if your self-employment ends or your place of work changes.
The earnings-related pension contributions you have paid in Finland are not refunded when you move out of the country. You will be paid the pension you have earned in Finland when you reach your retirement age. Remember to claim your pension at that point. Finnish earnings-related pensions are paid to all countries in the world.
Read more on Etk.fi:
Read more on other sites: