The tax debt register is the most concrete early warning about a Finnish company that public data offers. It is free and the query takes seconds — but it is easy to read wrongly, because it says less than it appears to.
What the register holds
The Tax Administration enters a company in the register if it has at least €10,000 of tax debt, or if it has failed to file returns for self-assessed taxes within the past six months.
The register does not show the amount. It says only whether the threshold is met. A company owing €10,001 and a company owing two million look identical in it.
How to query it
Company entries are public and can be queried by Business ID through the Business Information System without identifying yourself. Sole traders' entries are restricted: seeing them requires strong authentication and a purpose set out in the Act on the Contractor's Obligations.
What an entry means — and what it does not
An entry means the company has unpaid taxes or unfiled returns. It does not say why: a dispute over an assessment, a seasonal cash squeeze and the onset of insolvency all look the same.
The absence of an entry is not a clean bill of health either. Debt under €10,000 does not show at all, and debt under an agreed payment arrangement may be left out. The register is a filter, not a financial statement.
What to do when you find one
An entry is a reason to ask, not a reason to walk away. Ask for an explanation: what the debt is, whether there is a payment arrangement, when it clears. Then set your terms accordingly — payment up front, shorter terms, or security.
Read it alongside everything else. A tax debt entry against a company with negative equity and overdue accounts is a different thing from the same entry against a growing, well-capitalised one.