Know what to set aside: VatMainder's income tax estimate

VAT is due every month or quarter, but the big surprise for most sole traders is income tax: nothing is taken off at source, so it arrives later as one bill. With Pro, VatMainder estimates it from the moment you start recording, and tells you how much to put away.

The estimate, line by line

On Returns → Income tax, VatMainder works out the tax on your expected profit for the year. It never uses less than what the year has already made. In Finland it applies the full 2026 rules:

• state income tax on the progressive scale;
• municipal tax at your municipality’s rate (7.57% on average, or your own);
• the health insurance and daily allowance contributions, and Yle tax;
• church tax, if you add a rate;
• the basic deduction, the earned income credit and the 5% entrepreneur deduction;
• YEL pension contributions, with the 22% discount for your first 48 months in business.

Each line is shown, so you can see where the total comes from. The set-aside guide walks through an example on €24,000 of profit.

In Sweden, Estonia, Germany, the UK and elsewhere, the estimate uses the average rate you expect to pay on your profit. Last year’s tax decision has it.

How much to put away

The tax pot card says Put away €X a month: the tax not yet covered, split over the months left in the year. When you move money to a savings account or pay a prepayment, update what you’ve set aside and the card shows whether you’re on track, behind or done. On the 1st of each month, a reminder says how much to move.

VatMainder only keeps track of the number. It never touches your bank account.

Prepayments

With no salary, the app suggests asking Vero for a prepayment (ennakkovero) of about the estimated amount, so the tax doesn’t all come due at once as back tax with interest. The card opens MyTax for you.

Salary as well? Scan your payslip

If you work for an employer as well, the business profit is taxed on top of your salary, and your tax card probably doesn’t allow for it. Scan your latest Finnish payslip and VatMainder reads the year-to-date salary and tax withheld, your tax card’s basic and additional rates and its income limit. The payslip itself isn’t kept.

From those, it projects your salary and withholding for the whole year and tells you whether your tax card covers the business. If it doesn’t, a step-by-step guide shows what to change in MyTax, with each figure ready to copy. It also warns you when your salary is about to pass the tax card’s income limit.

Your next euro

The estimate also knows your marginal rate: how much tax the next €1,000 of profit costs. That’s also what a deductible purchase saves you.

An estimate, not advice

The estimate assumes all business profit is earned income, no losses from earlier years, and no deductions beyond the automatic ones. Your tax decision may differ, and the app says so. The income tax estimate and payslip reading are part of VatMainder Pro.