Instructions for the recipient of disability pension or cash rehabilitation benefit

We have granted you a disability pension or partial disability pension. A fixed-term disability pension is referred to as a cash rehabilitation benefit. We have sent you the pension decision and a pension calculation showing the amount of your pension, the start date, the payment method and the information on which your pension is based. Below you will find important information about your pension.

Contents

Review the pension decision and calculation
Request for appeal
Starting date of pension
Pension taxation
Apply for a pension tax card as soon as you get your pension decision
Pensions beginning at the end of the year
Index adjustments and tax information at the turn of the year
Earnings-related pension card
Pension amount
Projected pension component
Effect of accident and motor liability insurance on your pension
The effect of the life expectancy coefficient on your pension
Lump-sum increase
Gainful employment or entrepreneurial activities alongside pension
Transition of your pension into old-age pension
If your contact information or bank account number changes
Information for pension recipients living abroad
Taxation of pension recipients living abroad
Annual residence report
Additional information and contact information

Review the pension decision and calculation

The amount of your pension is based on your earnings. Check that the information on your earnings is correctly documented in the pension decision and calculation. If you notice anything missing from the information, please contact us.

Request for appeal

If you think the pension decision is incorrect, you can request an appeal. The appeal procedure is attached to the decision. You can also find the appeal instructions and appeal application form on our online service at www.veritas.fi.

Starting date of pension

The payment of disability pension begins following the period of primary benefit for sickness allowances in accordance with the Health Insurance Act. The period of primary benefit is confirmed by Kela.
If you are not entitled to or have not applied for a sickness allowance, the payment of the disability pension starts when all the conditions for the pension are met.

Pension taxation

Earnings-related pension is considered taxable income. Veritas withholds the tax payable on pensions in accordance with your pension tax card. If we do not have your pension tax card, we will withhold the tax at a rate of 40 per cent.

Apply for a pension tax card as soon as you get your pension decision

Order a tax card for earnings-related pension as soon as possible after receiving your pension decision. A pension tax card can be ordered in two ways:

  • from the Tax Administration’s online service at https://www.vero.fi/en/e-file/mytax/
  • by calling the Tax Administration’s service number +358 (0)29 497 000.

Ask the Tax Administration to send your tax card directly to Veritas.

If the tax card is valid from the same date on which your pension begins and we have already made pension payments to you and withheld 40% tax, we will refund the excess portion of the tax. The refund will automatically be made after we have received your tax card.

Pension companies cannot obtain tax cards on behalf of their customers, rather the tax card must be ordered by each individual taxpayer at the start of their pension. We are not able to use the tax card issued for the payment of wages or other income for the purpose of withholding your pension tax.

Pensions beginning at the end of the year

If your pension begins on or after 1 November, order your pension tax card for both the starting year and the following year. The tax amount can only be corrected during the year in which the pension has been paid.

Index adjustments and tax information at the turn of the year

Pensions in payment are adjusted annually, at the beginning of January, with the earnings-related pension index. We will notify the tax authorities of the indexed amount of your pension, and we receive directly from them the tax rate to be used for your pension payments the following year. You will also receive information about your updated pension tax rate from the tax authorities.

We report the paid pensions and the related withholding amounts also to the Incomes Register. You can check the information in the Incomes Register at any time at www.vero.fi/en/incomes-register.

If you have been granted a full disability pension, we will send you, within a few weeks from the start of your pension, an earnings-related pension card that entitles you to pension discounts. An online version of the pension card can be accessed in the online service at https://veritas.fi/en/log-in/. You can also order a new earnings-related pension card to replace one that is lost or damaged through the online service.

Recipients of a partial disability pension or cash rehabilitation benefit (fixed-term disability pension) are not entitled to receive an earnings-related pension card.

Pension amount

The amount of the earnings-related pension is based on your employment earnings and the insured YEL income earned from entrepreneurial activities. You may have also accrued pension on the basis of the daily allowance you received from unpaid periods and, for example, from studies that led to a degree or a period of home care for a child under three years of age. The accrual of earnings-related pension is governed by law and the regulations have changed over the years. You can find more detailed information on pension accrual, for example, on our website at https://veritas.fi/en/pension-rehabilitation/pension-amount/.

The amount of partial disability pension is half of the amount of full disability pension. A fixed-term partial disability pension is paid as a partial cash rehabilitation benefit.

Projected pension component

The amount of the disability pension consists of the pension accrued up until the end of the year preceding the start of the disability, as well as a possible projected pension component. The projected pension component concerns the period of time between the start of the year in which the disability began and your retirement age for old-age pension. This means that, under certain conditions, the amount of pension will take into account the period during which, due to your disability, you will be unable to accrue pension through work or entrepreneurial activities.

You are eligible for the projected pension component if you have earned at least EUR 21,514.19 (at 2026 level) during the 10 calendar years preceding the year in which the disability began. As a rule, the projected pension component is calculated on the basis of earnings from the five calendar years preceding the year in which your disability began. If you do not have earnings during that period, no projected pension component will be paid. You will find information on the projected pension component in your pension calculation.

Effect of accident and motor liability insurance on your pension

Any continuing compensation under accident and motor liability insurance legislation will be deducted from the earnings-related pension. If the amount of continuous compensation for statutory accident or motor liability insurance changes or you are granted a new continuous compensation, please inform us immediately so that we can adjust the amount of your pension. If the amount of your pension changes due to compensation, we will issue a new decision on your earnings-related pension.

The effect of the life expectancy coefficient on your pension

Your disability pension is subject to a life expectancy coefficient that adjusts the amount of your pension to correspond to a general change in life expectancy. The life expectancy coefficient only applies to the pension you have earned prior to the start of your disability. The life expectancy coefficient confirmed for the year when your disability began is applied to your pension.

Lump-sum increase

An age-dependent lump-sum increase will be added to your disability pension once you have received five full calendar years of disability pension. The increase applies to persons whose disability pension has started before the age of 50. The increase percentage is determined by the age of the pensioner at the start of the year, 1 January, when the increase is paid.

Gainful employment or entrepreneurial activities alongside pension

Minimal earnings do not affect the amount of your disability pension. You may earn a maximum of 40% of your established earnings prior to retirement. If the earnings limit is exceeded, the payment of the pension may be suspended or discontinued.

If the earnings are more than 40 per cent but no more than 60% of your earnings prior to retirement, the pension can be converted to a partial disability pension. Any unduly paid pension payments will be recovered.

A recipient of a partial disability pension may continue to work if their earnings are below 60% compared to their established level of earnings prior to the start of their pension.

Additional pension is accrued from gainful employment done alongside the disability pension and, therefore, the employee’s share of the pension contribution must also be paid on those earnings. Entrepreneurs and agricultural entrepreneurs are also obliged to take out YEL insurance if they are engaged in entrepreneurial activities while on disability pension and the conditions for YEL or MYEL insurance are met. A new line of pension is accrued from insured entrepreneurial activities. If your disability pension continues until you reach the minimum age for old-age pension, you can apply for this additional pension accrual on top of your old-age pension. The share of the additional accrual must be applied for with a separate application and the granting of it is subject to the termination of work, in accordance with the conditions for old-age pension.

Please notify us without delay if you enter into gainful employment, your earnings change or you exceed your earnings limits. You can check your earnings limit in euro from our online service at www.veritas.fi.

Transition of your pension into old-age pension

A permanent disability pension will transition into old-age pension without a separate application at your lowest retirement age for old-age pension. If you work during disability pension and you have accrued a new line of pension, the payment of this pension must be applied for with a separate application.

Disability pension paid in the form of a cash rehabilitation benefit will continue until the date stated in your pension decision and does not automatically transition to old-age pension. You will need to apply for old-age pension separately once the conditions for eligibility are met.

If your contact information or bank account number changes

If your address changes, submit a change of address notification to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. We will then automatically receive your new contact information. A pensioner living abroad must independently provide their new address to Veritas.

You can report a changed bank account number through the online service for private customers at www.veritas.fi. Log in to the service using your Finnish online banking codes, a mobile certificate or a certificate card.

For security reasons, we cannot receive bank account information by phone or e-mail.

Information for pension recipients living abroad

Taxation of pension recipients living abroad

If you live abroad permanently, we will, on your behalf, ask the tax authorities to issue a pension tax card applicable to your Finnish pension. At the end of the year, we will send you a certificate showing the amount of tax collected and the pensions paid for you to attach to the tax return in your country of residence.

Finnish citizens who have moved abroad are generally tax-liable in Finland during the year in which they moved and the following three years. A fully tax-liable pensioner pays tax to Finland on the same grounds as pensioners living in Finland. Pensioners living permanently outside Finland are considered to have limited tax liability in Finland. Even a person with limited tax liability primarily pays Finland taxes on the pension they receive from Finland.

More detailed information on the taxation of non-residents is provided by:

Helsinki Area Tax Office
P.O. Box 400
FI-00052 VERO
Tel. +358 (0)20 697 024

Annual residence report

We send our pension recipients living abroad an annual request to fill out a residence report as a means of providing us with their latest contact information. The residence report will be sent by post in December and must be returned to us by the end of April. You can also provide us with the information requested in the residence report through the online service at www.veritas.fi.
If you live abroad and move, please inform us of your new address.

Additional information and contact information

Information on your pension can be found in the online service for private customers at www.veritas.fi/log in. You can log in to the service using your Finnish online banking codes, a mobile certificate or a certificate card. If you have any questions, you can send us a message through our online service. You can also call us at the phone number stated in your pension decision. Our other contact information can be found on our website at www.veritas.fi/en/contact/.