Deadlines for a dormant Finnish limited company

A dormant Finnish limited company (osakeyhtiö) has the same deadlines as any other limited company. They are counted from the end of the financial year (tilikausi), and the trade register deadline is also tied to the date the financial statements are adopted. This guide brings them together with worked examples.

What are the deadlines for a Finnish limited company's financial statements?

There are four deadlines:

• Preparing the financial statements (tilinpäätös): within 4 months of the end of the financial year (KPL 3:6).
• Tax return 6B (veroilmoitus): within 4 months of the end of the last calendar month of the financial year.
• Annual general meeting (varsinainen yhtiökokous): within 6 months of the end of the financial year (OYL 5:3). The meeting, or a written shareholders' decision (osakaspäätös), adopts the financial statements.
• Filing with the trade register (kaupparekisteri): within 2 months of adopting the financial statements (OYL 8:10).

The Accounting Act (kirjanpitolaki) sets a general 6-month deadline for registration, but the deadlines for limited companies are laid down separately in the Limited Liability Companies Act (KPL 3:9). Because the meeting must be held within 6 months of the year end and the filing made within 2 months of that, the practical final deadline is 8 months after the end of the financial year. The Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) uses this 8-month line for its late filing fee.

Deadlines when the financial year is the calendar year

When the financial year runs from 1 January to 31 December, the deadlines are:

• financial statements prepared by 30 April
• tax return 6B filed by 30 April
• annual general meeting held by 30 June
• financial statements filed with the trade register within 2 months of adoption, and no later than 31 August

For example, for the financial year 1 January to 31 December 2026, the financial statements must be prepared and the tax return filed by 30 April 2027. The meeting must be held by 30 June 2027 and the financial statements filed with the trade register by 31 August 2027.

When does the registration deadline start?

The trade register deadline runs from the adoption of the financial statements, not from the end of the financial year (OYL 8:10). If a calendar-year company adopts its financial statements on 31 March, for example, it must file them by 31 May. 31 August is only the last possible day when the meeting is held at the end of June. PRH's late filing fee, however, is based on the 8-month line.

If the meeting is held after the tax return deadline, file the tax return on time and file the adopted financial statements later, directly in the YTJ service. The tax return 6B guide explains this in more detail.

In what order should you do things?

The deadlines overlap, so the order matters:

1. Prepare and sign the financial statements within 4 months of the year end.
2. Adopt them at the annual general meeting or by a written shareholders' decision.
3. File the tax return 6B. If the financial statements have already been adopted, attach them with the attachment type "PRH ja Verohallinto", and the trade register filing is taken care of at the same time.
4. If the financial statements are adopted only after the tax return, file them in YTJ within 2 months of adoption.

When the financial statements are adopted before the tax return deadline, both filings are done in one go in OmaVero, the Tax Administration's online service.

Example: financial year ending 30 September

When the financial year runs from 1 October to 30 September, the same rules give these deadlines:

• financial statements prepared by 30 January
• tax return 6B filed by 31 January
• annual general meeting held by 30 March
• financial statements filed with the trade register within 2 months of adoption, and no later than 30 May

Note the difference between the financial statements and the tax return. The financial statements deadline is counted from the last day of the financial year, while the tax return deadline is counted from the end of the last calendar month. That is why, in this example, the financial statements are due on 30 January but the tax return on 31 January.

The same rules apply to the first financial year: the deadlines are counted from its end. The first year's financial statements have no comparison figures, because there is no previous year.

What does filing late cost?

PRH charges a late filing fee if the financial statements have not been filed with the trade register within 8 months of the end of the financial year. The fees apply to financial years ending on or after 1 December 2024:

• 150 euros if the filing is up to 2 months late
• 300 euros if it is 2-4 months late
• 600 euros if it is more than 4 months late or never made

The fee doubles if the filing is late for two or more consecutive financial years. A public limited company always pays the doubled fee. Filing in YTJ within the deadline is free of charge.

How long must records be kept?

The financial statements and the accounts must be kept for at least 10 years from the end of the financial year. Vouchers, correspondence and other material must be kept for at least six years from the end of the year in which the financial year ended (KPL 2:10).

So for a calendar-year 2026 financial year, the financial statements must be kept until at least 31 December 2036 and other material until at least 31 December 2032. If the financial year ends on 30 September 2026, the financial statements must be kept until at least 30 September 2036 and other material until at least 31 December 2032.

Get your deadlines calculated for you

Ei Liiketoimintaa calculates your company's deadlines from its financial year and collects them into personal filing instructions. You also get signature-ready financial statements, a balance sheet book (tasekirja) and annual general meeting minutes. What the financial statements contain is covered in our guide to dormant company financial statements.

Note that the service and the documents it produces are in Finnish.

Create your financial statements