Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Planning

Finnish inheritance and gift taxation in cross-border situations

Finland imposes both inheritance and gift taxes. What often comes as a surprise is the wide personal scope of these taxes: a tax may be imposed on your loved ones even if they do not live in Finland. Tax treaties usually will not help either — only a few inheritance and gift tax treaties are in force, and income and capital tax treaties generally do not cover gifts or inheritances. These taxes are also not harmonised within the EU (only VAT is).

International scope

Finland imposes tax separately on each beneficiary for their share of the estate, and on each recipient of a gift. The scope covers:

• All assets located in Finland or abroad, if the deceased/donor or the beneficiary/recipient was resident in Finland at the time of the death or gift; and
• Immovable property located in Finland, and shares in any company whose assets consist of 50% or more of Finnish immovable property — even if neither party was resident in Finland.

What can you do?

First, find out what your tax position is — preparation for the future is key. Questions worth looking into:

• Where do you live (tax residence, treaty residence)?
• What is your family situation (married, cohabiting, children)?
• What kind of assets do you have?
• Who do you want to leave them to, and what consequences might that have?
• What are the possibilities to optimise your tax position?

What we handle

• Assessing the tax implications of gifts before they are made
• Timing and structuring of transfers
• Cross-border gifting and estate planning
• Business succession planning

Finnish gift tax from 2026

Gift tax for Tax Class I (close family members):

• €7,500–€25,000: €100 + 8% on the excess
• €25,000–€55,000: €1,500 + 10% on the excess
• €55,000–€200,000: €4,500 + 12% on the excess
• €200,000–€1,000,000: €21,900 + 15% on the excess
• Over €1,000,000: €141,900 + 17% on the excess