Elite athlete denied key-person source-tax status

The applicant was an athlete with an international career who intended to move to Finland to play for a Finnish top-league (FM-serienivå/SM-sarjatason) team. The question was whether the applicant works in duties requiring special expertise (speciell sakkunskap/erityisasiantuntemus) within the meaning of section 2(1)(3) of the key-persons act (nyckelpersonslagen/avainhenkilölaki).

The preparatory works never defined special expertise. Although government bill 76/1995 (hallituksen esitys 76/1995 vp) regarded a sufficiently high cash salary (riittävän korkea rahapalkka) as capable of showing that a post requires special expertise, the Board held that what is decisive (ratkaisevaa) is the nature (luonne) of the foreign employee's duties (tehtävien) and skills (taitojen), not the amount of pay.

The bill and the related committee report StaUB 45/1995 vp (VaVM 45/1995) referred to top researchers and managers of foreign companies and persons whose knowledge or other skills matter for the development of Finland's production, business or research. An elite athlete's skills are not such skills, the Board heldVero, so the applicant does not work in duties requiring special expertise under the key-persons act. The applicant is therefore not an employee from abroad within the meaning of the act on source tax for employees from abroad (lagen om källskatt för löntagare från utlandet / laki ulkomailta tulevan palkansaajan lähdeverosta), and the act does not apply to the applicant's taxation.

The ruling is given for the applicant's taxation for tax years 2026 and 2027 (förhandsavgörande för skatteåren 2026 och 2027 / ennakkoratkaisu verovuosille 2026 ja 2027), and is published in summary only (beslutet publiceras endast i sammandrag / päätös julkaistaan vain lyhennelmänä). It is not yet final (ej lagakraftvunnen / ei lainvoimainen). The outcome follows established practice: an athlete has not been regarded as a special expert under the key-persons act, while a coach may qualify if the other conditions are met.

The key-person regime otherwise lets a generally tax-liable foreigner arriving in Finland for over six months pay a flat source tax on salary instead of progressive tax: 25% from salaries paid on 1 January 2026 (32% for salaries paid up to 31 December 2025), provided the cash salary is at least 5,800 euro per month throughout the work, among other conditions.

Legal basis: lagen om källskatt för löntagare från utlandet (1551/1995) 1 section 1 subsection and 2 section 1 subsection; avainhenkilölaki 2 §:n 1 momentin 3 kohta; government bill 76/1995 rd/vp; committee report StaUB 45/1995 rd (VaVM 45/1995).