Taxation of copyright royalties with a tax card

Updating your tax information

When you receive copyright royalties for works you have contributed to, the royalties are paid to you as your personal earned income. When we pay these royalties to you, we withhold taxes according to the withholding percentage on your tax card. Pension contributions are not deducted from copyright royalties that we pay.

While copyright royalties are paid as personal earned income, this payment is not a salary but a compensation for use, for which there is a separate tax card. You should request this tax card for royalties by the end of January. If you have requested the tax card for royalties by the end of January, we receive it from the Tax Administration at the beginning of February. If you have not requested the tax card for royalties, taxes are withheld from your copyright royalties in accordance with your so-called basic tax card that is sent to you by Tax Administration for the following year in November or December. See instructions for ordering the tax card for royalties on the Tax Administration’s website.

If you make changes to your tax rate after January and want us to use your new tax card, please note that you still need to specifically request the tax card for compensation for use. When personal tax rates are changed after January, we will not receive information regarding this from the Tax Administration automatically. Therefore, you must update the information yourself in our web service.

The same applies if you request the tax card for royalties for the first time during the year after January, or if you request for advance payment of distributions from us in January before we receive tax card from Tax Administration. You can update your tax information in the Remuneration section in our web service (Remuneration > Paid Royalties > Tax information), which you can find in the right sidebar on the computer or by clicking the blue bubble icon in the mobile view. Once you have reached the right page, click “Update Tax Information”. You will receive an email notification after a successful tax information update.

Tax information must be updated in our web service by the end of last Sunday before the distribution payment date. You can find the payment dates on our website.

New members

New members must update their tax information by themselves in our web service. When you become our member, request the tax card for royalties from the Tax Administration and update your tax information in the Remuneration section in our web service (Remuneration > Paid Royalties > Tax information), which you can find in the right sidebar on the computer or by clicking the blue bubble icon in the mobile view. Once you have reached the right page, click “Update Tax Information”. You will receive an email notification after a successful tax information update. If we do not receive your tax card, your copyright royalties are subject to 60 % tax. See instructions for ordering the tax for royalties on the Tax Administration’s website.

Pensioners

Tax card for pension income cannot be used for withholding taxes on copyright royalties. Therefore, pensioners must request the tax card for royalties from the Tax Administration. Once you have received the tax card for royalties, update your tax information in the Remuneration section in our web service (Remuneration > Paid Royalties > Tax information), which you can find in the right sidebar on the computer or by clicking the blue bubble icon in the mobile view. Once you have reached the right page, click “Update Tax Information”. You will receive an email notification after a successful tax information update. If we do not receive your tax card, your copyright royalties are subject to 60 % tax. See instructions for ordering the tax for royalties on the Tax Administration’s website.

Non-resident taxpayers

Our customers who reside permanently abroad are generally non-resident taxpayers, i.e. liable to tax but with restrictions. When copyright royalties are paid to non-resident taxpayers, tax at source is withheld. If you have lived abroad for more than three years and have tax liability in another country, please deliver us your certificate of fiscal residence that is provided by the local register authority. If you have lived abroad for less than three years but are a non-resident taxpayer, please request a tax-at-source card from the Tax Administration and deliver it to us. Please note that you must provide us with a new tax-at-source card always before expiration of your current tax-at-source card, which is typically annually, if your situation remains unchanged. In addition to the certificate of fiscal residence or tax-at-source card, please provide us with your tax identification number. See instructions for ordering a tax-at-source card on the Tax Administration’s website.

Please deliver the aforementioned documents via Secure message at https://www.securedmail.eu/message/omateosto@teosto.fi?lang=en. Give your message a subject “Certificate of Fiscal Residence/Tax-at-Source Card” and attach the aforementioned documents to the message. After submitting the Secure message form, you will receive an email from turvaposti@turvaposti.fi with a subject “Confirm secure message delivery”. Confirm the submission by clicking the link in the email. If you do not deliver the necessary information indicating your status as a non-resident taxpayer, your copyright royalties are subject to 60 % tax.

Taxation of inherited or purchased copyrights

If you have inherited or purchased copyrights, the royalties paid to you in relation to these copyrights are not earned income. Instead, these royalties are paid to you as your capital income. When we pay these royalties to you, we withhold taxes according to the current capital income tax rate. If all copyright royalties that we pay to you are capital income, you do not need to update your tax information in our web service. The tax rate of capital income is determined directly in legislation, and therefore your personal tax card does not affect the amount of withholding.

More information on the taxation of copyright royalties For more information on tax cards and the taxation of copyright royalties, please contact the Tax Administration.