When your financial situation is good, you can raise the level of your pension security by temporarily paying a higher contribution than your confirmed YEL income would require. There is no need to adjust the confirmed YEL income.
This flexibility enables you to invest in your future pension when your business is doing well.
The additional contribution may be 10–100 per cent of the contribution based on your confirmed YEL income. The additional contribution is fully deductible in taxation. However, the total of the regular and additional YEL contributions must not exceed the amount of the contribution payable for the maximum YEL income. The maximum is €194,750 in 2023 and €204,625 in 2024.
Under certain circumstances, it is also possible to pay a 10–20 per cent lower YEL contribution. This will reduce your future pension.
The possibility of paying an additional contribution can only be used once each calendar year and the contribution must be paid as a lump sum.
It is not possible to pay an additional contribution in the following situations:
- You are receiving a pension in accordance with employment pension legislation, i.e partial old-age pension or old-age pension (pension received from abroad is not an obstacle for paying an additional contribution).
- You have outstanding YEL contributions.
- Your YEL insurance is not valid throughout the calendar year.
- Your YEL insurance policy is not valid throughout the calendar year in the same pension insurance company, i.e., it is transferred from one company to another during the calendar year.
- You are a start-up entrepreneur and entitled to a discounted contribution during the calendar year.
Note! By paying an additional contribution, you cannot increase the amounts of the benefits paid by Kela; it will only affect your future pension. Therefore, it is important that you maintain your YEL income at a proper level regardless of flexibility in YEL contributions.