Receipt obligation and POS requirements in Finland

Who the receipt obligation applies to

The Act on the obligation to offer a receipt in cash trade (658/2013) applies to business and professional activity whose turnover for the financial period exceeds €10,000.

A receipt must be offered when payment is made in cash or by a comparable method. The receipt may also be delivered electronically.

What a receipt must contain

The Act defines the mandatory contents. In practice the POS system must produce these automatically.

• The trader’s name, contact details and business ID
• The date the receipt was issued
• The receipt’s identifying number or other unique identifier
• The quantity and type of goods sold, and the type of services
• The payment made and the amount of VAT by tax rate (or the VAT base by tax rate)

Exceptions

The Act does not apply to vending machine sales, lotteries, outdoor market and street trade (excluding the sale and serving of alcoholic beverages), or electronic commerce.

Note the alcohol exception in particular: if you sell alcohol at a market or a festival, the receipt obligation applies to you even though other market trade falls outside it.

No type-approved cash register is required

Unlike Sweden, for example, Finland has no requirement for a certified or type-approved cash register. The requirement applies to the receipt and the accounting records, not to the device.

In practice this means an ordinary tablet and a POS app are enough, as long as the receipt contains the required information and the records are retained.

Retaining records

Under the Accounting Act, vouchers for a financial period must be retained for at least six years from the end of the year in which the financial period ended. Make sure you can export sales records from your POS system for that whole period — this matters especially when switching systems.

Please note

This is general information, not legal advice. Always check the current requirements with the Finnish Tax Administration and, where necessary, your accountant. Sources: Finlex, Act 658/2013, and the Tax Administration’s guidance on the receipt obligation.

Frequently asked questions