Finland's household tax deduction for renovations – what counts and what to keep

When you hire a company to renovate your home in Finland, you can get part of the labour cost back through the household tax deduction, kotitalousvähennys in Finnish. It is not large compared with a whole renovation, but it is easy to miss out on if your paperwork is not in order.

Amounts and percentages change from time to time. The figures below apply to 2025. Always check the current rules on vero.fi before counting on the money.

What the deduction covers

The deduction covers labour, not materials. For renovating a home used by you or your relatives, in 2025:

• You can deduct 35 percent of the labour part of the invoice, VAT included.
• The deduction is at most €1,600 per person per year, and the first €150 is your own share.
• The deduction is personal. If two people own and live in the house, both can claim for the part of the work they paid themselves.
• The company must be in the prepayment register (ennakkoperintärekisteri). Check it on ytj.fi before you pay.

Travel costs the company invoices for the work also count, but materials, equipment hire and work you do yourself do not.

Example

The electrician invoices €4,000, of which €2,600 is labour and €1,400 materials.

	Amount
Labour	€2,600
35% of labour	€910
Minus own share	−€150
Household deduction	€760

If two people paid the invoice half each, each calculates the deduction on their own share, each with their own €150.

What does not count

• Talkoot work. If friends help for free, there is nothing to deduct. If you pay them wages you become an employer, and other rules apply.
• New builds. The deduction is for renovating and maintaining an existing home, not for building a new house.
• Work that has received other support, for example an energy grant for the same work.
• Materials. That is why the labour must be on its own line on the invoice.

Papers to keep

For the deduction to go through without questions, you need for each invoice:

1. The invoice, with the labour part shown separately.
2. Proof of payment – a bank statement or receipt. Paying a company in cash is allowed, but a bank transfer is easier to prove.
3. Who paid, if there is more than one of you.

You claim the deduction in your pre-completed tax return in MyTax (OmaVero), or during the year by changing your tax card if you want the benefit right away.

Make it easy on yourself

The hard part of the deduction is not the rules; it is finding all of last year’s invoices in March and working out which part was labour. Save the invoice the day you pay it and mark it as labour. Read more about keeping receipts and budget in order during a renovation.

In Byggkoll you can photograph the invoice and link it to the right phase, so all your labour costs are in one place when it is time to file your taxes.