Earning Money as a Student: How Light Entrepreneurship Works Alongside the Study Grant

You can earn money while studying without losing your study grant, as long as you stay within Kela’s annual income limit. Light entrepreneurship is a flexible way for students to invoice for occasional work without setting up their own company. With Eezy’s light entrepreneurship service, you can see in real time how much you have earned and adjust your workload with the income limit in mind. Registration is free, and you do not need to take care of bookkeeping or VAT returns.

Studying takes both time and money. Student financial aid provides a financial foundation, but many students wonder whether they could earn some extra money by taking on occasional jobs alongside their studies. The question is often the same: will I lose my study grant if I earn too much?

The short answer is reassuring. You can earn money while studying, as long as you understand how Kela’s income limits work and how to invoice for your work. Light entrepreneurship is particularly well suited to this, and below we explain why.

Can I earn money without losing my study grant?

Yes, up to a certain limit. Student financial aid is income-tested, and Kela sets an annual limit on how much you can earn without affecting the months for which you receive student financial aid. Your income limit depends on how many months of student financial aid you receive during the calendar year. The fewer months of aid you receive, the higher your annual income limit.

The exact amounts are updated annually, so you should always check your own situation on Kela’s student financial aid income limits page. Kela also provides a calculator that you can use to check your personal income limit.

One important thing to know is that Kela looks at your income for the entire calendar year, not month by month. This means you can, for example, earn more in the spring and less in the autumn, as long as your total annual income stays within the limit. If you exceed the limit, you may have to pay back some of your student financial aid, but a small excess does not mean losing all of your aid.

What is light entrepreneurship, and why is it a good fit for students?

Light entrepreneurship is a way to invoice for your work without having your own Business ID. You work independently – finding your own clients, agreeing on prices and carrying out the work – but you do not need to set up your own company. A light entrepreneurship service takes care of the paperwork, taxes, insurance and statutory reporting on your behalf.

For tax and bookkeeping purposes, a light entrepreneur using our service is treated as an employee. This means you do not need to file an entrepreneur’s tax return, keep accounts or submit separate VAT returns. The €20,000 VAT registration threshold for entrepreneurs does not apply to you either, as we handle VAT on all invoices as part of our invoicing service.

For students, this has three practical benefits:

• Getting started is risk-free. Registration is free, and there are no costs unless you invoice for work. You can try it out and see whether you find clients without worrying about fixed costs.
• Your earnings are easy to track. Eezy’s light entrepreneurship service and mobile app show you how much you have invoiced and how much salary you have been paid. This makes it easier to keep an eye on your earnings in relation to Kela’s income limit.
• Taxes are taken care of for you. All your income is automatically reported to the Incomes Register. You do not need to report it separately to the Finnish Tax Administration or Kela, as both authorities receive the information directly.

How do additional earnings affect taxes and Kela benefits?

When you invoice for work through Eezy’s light entrepreneurship service, the process works like this: your client pays the invoice to Eezy Kevytyrittäjät, we withhold tax from your salary according to your tax card, and we transfer your net salary to your bank account.

All payments are reported directly to the Incomes Register, which Kela uses to obtain your income information for student financial aid purposes. This means you do not need to report your income to Kela yourself during the year. If you notice that your annual income is approaching the limit, you can reduce the amount of work you invoice towards the end of the year or choose not to receive student financial aid for the remaining months, which increases your annual income limit.

It is a good idea to make sure the withholding rate on your tax card is as accurate as possible. You can request a revised tax card in MyTax if you expect your income to be lower than the estimate used for your current tax card.

What kind of work can a student do as a light entrepreneur?

Light entrepreneurship is suitable for practically any type of work where you sell your own skills or expertise. Common examples among students include:

• Tutoring and private lessons: mathematics, languages and musical instruments.
• Content creation: social media content for local businesses, blogging and translation.
• Photography and media: event photography, videography and video editing.
• Construction and repair work: summer renovation projects, moving services and garden work.
• Personal training and fitness instruction: small-group classes and personal coaching.

The VAT rate depends on the type of work you do. For most services, the rate is 25.5%, while fitness instruction is subject to a 13.5% VAT rate and performing artists, such as musicians playing gigs, may be subject to a 0% rate. Before sending your first invoice, ask us which VAT rate applies to your work and we will help you get it right from the start.

What about YEL insurance and unemployment benefits? Should students be concerned?

For pension insurance purposes, light entrepreneurs are treated as entrepreneurs, which means YEL insurance (self-employed persons’ pension insurance) may become mandatory in certain circumstances. However, the income threshold is considerably higher than the additional earnings of most students.

In 2026, YEL insurance only becomes mandatory if your entrepreneurial activity has continued for at least four consecutive months and your estimated YEL income over a 12-month period exceeds €9,423.09. Occasional jobs carried out by students usually remain well below this threshold. If your activity grows while you are studying, we will remind you well in advance if you are approaching the point at which YEL insurance may become mandatory.

Here is a practical example: you provide tutoring twice a week during the academic year at an hourly rate of €40 and take on a few photography jobs during the summer. Your annual earnings amount to around €4,000, which is well below the YEL threshold of €9,423.09 in 2026. YEL insurance would therefore not become mandatory, while your earnings would still be automatically included in Kela’s income monitoring. You can adjust your workload depending on how close you are to your annual income limit for student financial aid.

Unemployment benefits are generally not relevant while you are studying, as full-time students are normally not eligible for them. After graduation, however, light entrepreneurship does not automatically prevent you from receiving unemployment benefits, provided that your entrepreneurial activity is considered part-time or is short-term, lasting no more than 14 consecutive calendar days.

How do I get started?

It only takes three steps:

1. Register for free with Eezy’s light entrepreneurship service. Your insurance coverage takes effect immediately, and you will get access to contract templates and our invoicing tool.
2. Agree on the work and price with your client. You can use our ready-made contract templates or agree on the details in another suitable way.
3. Do the work and send an invoice: either a traditional invoice or an EezyPay payment link, which allows your client to pay by card or mobile payment. Once the client pays, your salary is transferred to your account and the income is reported directly to the Incomes Register.

Our service fee is 2–4% of the invoiced amount, plus a 3% EezyTurva fee. You can stop using the service at any time with no notice period or additional costs.