When am I able to get expenses reimbursed?

When am I able to get expenses reimbursed?

Please read the conditions for reimbursement carefully, as we do not want you to pay in vain. A service fee will be charged for handling the costs, even if not all your costs are accepted for reimbursement. 

We offer an additional paid service that allows you to deduct material costs, supplies and travel costs directly related to the invoiced work already at the time of payment. Your expenses will be reimbursed to you on the basis of a purchase receipt or travel invoice and you will gain financial benefit when you pay less taxes and side costs on your salary.

Expense reimbursement is paid in accordance with the Tax Administration’s instructions

In practice, the VAT-free total of the invoice paid by your client is divided to salary for the work and expenses. You do not pay taxes or side costs for the share of expenses. We will process and verify your reimbursable expenses and ensure that the reimbursement is paid to you in accordance with the instructions of the Tax Administration.

You will be reimbursed immediately

To have expense reimbursements covered at the same time as your salary payment, there must be a written agreement with your client. Additionally, these expenses must be invoiced separately from your work invoice to the client. Travel expenses can be invoiced as part of the total compensation. Furthermore, you need to complete the expense breakdown in the online service, send the written agreement to Eezy, and add the purchase receipts to the expense breakdown. Please note that although the portion of supply expenses is paid to you without withholding tax, it is still taxable income for you. This means that you need to claim deductions for these expenses in your own tax return; otherwise, you may face additional taxes later on.

What expenses do we reimburse?

Expenses are divided into two categories – supply expenses and travel expense reimbursements.

Supplies and material expenses

Supply purchases can be reimbursed to you under the following conditions:

  • You have invoiced the expenses to your client separately from your work invoice.
  • You have agreed with the client on the invoicing of supplies and have submitted a written agreement to Eezy before the payment of wages. According to the guidelines of the Tax Administration (only in Finnish), Eezy is required to clarify what has been agreed upon regarding expense reimbursements.
  • The expenses are deductible according to the Tax Administration’s guidelines, meaning they are directly related to the work invoiced through us and do not involve personal use or long-term use.
  • The receipts and vouchers meet the requirements of the Tax Administration.
  • You have submitted the necessary receipts and vouchers, the agreement on expense reimbursements, and a breakdown of the expenses to us before your wage payment.
  • After the reimbursement of expenses, there must always be a reasonable wage left from the work. This may, in some cases, limit both the reimbursable expenses and tax-free travel expense reimbursements. Otherwise, there is no personal or work-related upper limit for expenses.

Travel Expense Reimbursements

Eezy must ensure (only in Finnish) that the light entrepreneur and their client have agreed on the payment of travel expenses.

In addition, Eezy must confirm what kind of travel expenses have been agreed upon: for example, mileage allowance, per diem, meal allowance, and/or travel tickets. Please remember to fill out the expense breakdown along with the invoice so that we can reimburse travel expenses.

Travel expenses can be reimbursed to you under the following conditions – two options:

1. Travel expenses are included in the total price agreed with the client

  • Eezy must be informed of which travel expenses are invoiced as part of the total price (hourly rate or contract price).
  • The travel expenses do not need to be itemized separately on the invoice.
  • You must submit to us via email or online service message a written agreement specifying which travel expenses are included in the total compensation (for example, mileage allowances, per diems, meal allowances, or travel tickets).
  • Example:
    • Hourly rate: €35/hour including mileage allowances and per diems
    • Total price: €1500 including per diems and travel tickets

2. Travel expenses are invoiced as an additional charge agreed with the client

  • Travel expenses must be clearly itemized on the invoice on separate lines (itemized kilometers, per diems, meal allowances, travel tickets) – unfortunately, a total amount of travel expenses is not sufficient.
  • You must submit to us via email or online service message a written agreement specifying which travel expenses are agreed to be invoiced as an additional charge (for example, mileage allowances, per diems, meal allowances, or travel tickets).
  • Example:
    • Mileage allowance 125 km, €0.57/km
    • Per diem 3 pcs.

Requirements for documents and receipts:

  • The document or receipt must not be more than 2 months older than salary payment date, due to accounting requirements.
  • According to the Tax Administration’s instructions, the receipt or document may not contain purchases other than those caused by work.
  • You pay the costs yourself. For example, your spouse cannot be a payer because then the expense would be included in his or her deductions.
  • If the buyer’s name appears on the document or receipt, it should be your own name or the marketing name you use as an Eezy light entrepreneur. It cannot be, for example, the name or business ID of your former business.
  • The same receipt or document cannot be used more than once.
  • The receipt or document is always processed as a whole, attached to one invoice.
  • Please keep the original receipts and documents until your salary has been paid and those expenses have been reimbursed to you.

Not all purchases can be accepted as expenses

We cannot accept as expenses purchases that may involve private use or have longer-term use. Examples of such expenses are:

  • clothing
  • telephone
  • computer
  • accommodation and rental costs
  • tools for long-term use

You will be able to deduct these acquisitions and expenses in your own personal taxation if the Tax Administration deems them necessary in the exercise of your profession. Also, trainings, courses and professional literature are not accepted as expenses through us.

Tax Administration’s guide: Income acquisition costs from earned income (in Finnish)

How is working in a special field considered in expense reimbursements?

Reimbursement of travel expenses in special fields differs from ordinary business trips in terms of daily allowances. When working in a special field, you are entitled to a daily allowance only if your business trip lasts overnight or you do mobile work, in which case general reimbursements for travel expenses apply to you.

Special fields refer to the construction, civil engineering, or forestry field, which are characterized by the frequent need to change the work location due to the short duration of the work typical of the field.

However, it is not always entirely clear whether you work in a special field or whether your work is mobile work. The difference between the two is interpreted as a person doing mobile work changes their place of work very often, e.g. several times a day – that is, more often than a person working in a special field. General tax guidelines apply to the travel expenses of a mobile worker. https://www.vero.fi/en/individuals/tax-cards-and-tax-returns/income-and-deductions/travel_expenses/travelling_within_special_sectors_of_wo/

Tax Administration’s Guidelines: Travelling within special sectors of work (only in Finnish)

How are the rental costs of your own premises reimbursed?

Through Eezy, a rental business premise can be deducted as an expense reimbursement if it is invoiced on a daily or hourly basis and is directly related to the assignment you invoice, i.e. the time of the rental is the same as the time of the work.

Deducting monthly rent as an expense through Eezy is only possible when it can be verified that the rent for the premises is directly related to the work you do and that the rental expense does not have personal use. In this case, we need a breakdown of the rent, how the space has been used. For example, a hairdresser’s rental chair can be verified to be directly related to the execution of the work. On the other hand, rent for storage space, for example, is not considered an expense directly related to the performance of the work, so you cannot deduct it through Eezy (you may be able to deduct such expenses in your personal taxation).