Start-up notification for a private trader to the Finnish Trade Register

As a private trader (often referred to as ‘toiminimiyrittäjä’ in colloquial Finnish), you can file a start-up notification with the Finnish Trade Register if the following conditions are met:

• You are at least 18 years old.
• You are not bankrupt and your legal competency has not been restricted.

Once your company is in the Finnish Trade Register, your company name is protected, and you can apply for an enterprise mortgage to secure a loan.

According to Finnish law, you must register as a private trader with the Finnish Trade Register in the following cases:

• You must by virtue of the Finnish Accounting Act file your financial statements for registration; or
• You have a permanent place of residence outside the European Economic Area (EEA), in which case you need a permit from the Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) to operate in Finland.

Please note that if you are from Ukraine, you do not need a permit if you have received a decision on temporary protection from the Finnish Immigration Service. You can register as a business operator at the Finnish Tax Administration free of charge. When you register as a business operator at the Finnish Trade Register, registration is subject to a fee. For the registration, you need the Finnish personal identity code given in the Finnish Immigration Service’s decision.

Are you under 18 years of age?

If you are at least 15 years old, you can be a private trader with consent from your guardian.

Decide the company’s name and line of business before filing the application with the Finnish Trade Register

Choose your company name carefully. Read our instructions: Filing company names with the Trade Register.

It is also important that you define your line of business. Read more about line of business in the Finnish Trade Register in Finnish or in Swedish.

How to file your notification with the Finnish Trade Register

You can file your start-up notification in the online service at ytj.fi (available in Finnish and in Swedish) or on paper forms. If you file your notification on paper, the processing time will be longer than when filing online at ytj.fi.

Go to our YouTube channelOpen link in a new tab to watch a video in English with instructions on how to file the start-up notification in the online service at ytj.fi.

The start-up notification costs 70 euros. The fee for filing an auxiliary company name is 70 euros per name.

Provide these details in the start-up notification:

• Personal details of the trader
• Your proposal for the company name, and a maximum of two alternative names
• Address and contact details of the company. If you wish, you can also give other details, like your phone number or website and email addresses. Please note that all the company’s address and contact details you have reported are public and available to anyone for example in the company and organisation search at ytj.fi. Please note that you do not have to report a postal or street address if a non-disclosure for personal safety has been registered in the Population Information System.
• Registered office, or municipality where the company is managed
• Line of business in text form. Please note that the line of business to be entered in the PRH’s Trade Register can be more extensive than the general line of business to be registered at the Finnish Tax Administration.

Notification in the online service at ytj.fi: Log in to the online service using Suomi.fi e-Identification.Open link in a new tab Please note that the online service is only available in Finnish and in Swedish.

Notification on paper form: Go to the instructions concerning paper forms.

If you already have a Business ID, the service at ytj.fi will direct you to the notification of changes

If you already have a Finnish Business ID, in other words, you have run a business in Finland previously, or if you for instance want to notify the Finnish Trade Register about a company only registered at the Finnish Tax Administration, the service at ytj.fi will help you fill in a notification of changes after you have logged in.

Monitor the progress of your notification in the Finnish Trade Register

You can monitor the processing status of your notification to the Finnish Trade Register via the Virre Information Service.Open link in a new tab‍