Authorities report that between March and April this year, tax number registrations have grown by 3,000-5,000 each week. Officials speculate that this growth in registrations has been driven by the seasonal spring start of new construction projects.
“The number of persons with personal tax registration numbers has grown steadily. The number grows by about 5,000 weekly,” said Sari Wulff, a senior inspector with the Finnish Tax Administration.
Construction site workers applying for the personal registration numbers now include people other than labourers.
“This affects everyone working on a common construction site. Any person at all, including cleaners, guards or kitchen staff need this number. Maybe this explains the huge numbers and the fact that we already have more than half a million persons registered,” she added.
Construction companies have typically coordinated the process of securing tax registration numbers for their employees. Finnish nationals and even some foreign workers have been able to register with the tax authorities by phone.
“Those foreign workers who don’t have a Finnish identification number, invariably have to complete the process in person at a tax office, where they are provided with an identity number and a tax number. So far just about 5,000 people have gone through this process at the Tax Administration since last may,” the tax inspector said.
The majority of foreigner workers registered with the tax authorities are Estonians, Russians and Poles. Other construction workers also come from Germany, Sweden, Romania and Hungary. Altogether the tax officials have registered over 46,000 foreign workers from more than 100 countries.
New fields being considered
Based on the positive outcomes from introducing the mandatory tax registration in the construction sector, tax authorities are now considering expanding the practice to other sectors.
“We have received a memo for the Finance Ministry considering the expansion of risk sectors. These include transportation, cleaning services and accommodation as well as restaurant and catering,” Wulff disclosed.
Workers on construction sites have been required to display identification cards with their personal tax numbers since March this year. So far more than 526,000 workers have received personal tax registration numbers.
