Yrittäjän velvollisuudet ja oikeudet
Permits required by entrepreneurs
People who live in, and companies and corporations situated in the European Economic Area (EEA), have the right to carry on trade in Finland in accordance with legal and good practice requirements.
In some cases you will need a licence to begin business activities or you need to notify authorities of your enterprise. Licensing authorities are mostly municipal or city authorities, police districts, Regional State Administrative Agencies and ministries.
An inspection of the premises of, for example, companies selling foodstuffs, or a beauty salon, must be carried out and a licence obtained from the municipal health authorities, before such premises can be utilised.
Before you begin your business activities, you should check if you need a licence for your business or if you need to notify the authorities of your enterprise. You can contact a Regional State Administrative Agency to find out whether you need a licence for your business.
Obligations of the entrepreneur
It is important to clarify exactly which licences are required for establishing a company, what kind of declarations need to be made and which laws and obligations concern the entrepreneur. These include sundry declarations and fees payable to authorities, company registration and both tax liability and the right to tax deduction for persons liable to VAT.
The entrepreneur must also take care of both his or her own pension and unemployment security payments and those of his or her employees, company and employee insurance and social security payments, and prepayment tax. It is important to pay attention to certain regulations covering recruitment of employees, contracts of employment and payment of wages. In Finland every entrepreneur has a legal obligation to keep books.
More information
More information on how to establish a company in Finland is available, for example, in:
See also the Becoming an Entrepreneur Guide for immigrants published by the Regional Enterprise Agency (Uusyrityskeskus). The guide is available in the following languages:
Finnish
Swedish
English
Russian
Estonian
French
Chinese
Arabic
Turkish
Somali
Kurdish