Payment of pension abroad and taxation

A pension can also be paid to a foreign bank account. For the payment, it is important that you inform us if your account number or address abroad changes. The taxation of pension paid to a foreign country depends on how long you have lived abroad.

Can a pension be paid to a foreign country?

A pension or rehabilitation benefit paid by an earnings-related pension company can also be paid to a foreign bank account. A pension or rehabilitation benefit can also be paid in a currency other than the euro. For the payment abroad, we require the following information from you:

  • your account number in the international IBAN format
  • your foreign bank’s BIC or SWIFT code.

This information must be submitted in the pension application.

Visit Kela’s website to find out how national pension is paid abroad (kela.fi).

  1. If you live in a country where IBAN account numbers are not in use, we require the following information from you, in addition to your account number:

    1. Clearing code or Routing number
    2. Payment currency
    3. Bank’s address information.


    Please contact your bank in the need of this information.

    Follow these steps:

    1. Print out and fill in this Foreign bank account notification form (PDF). Remember to sign the form.
    2. Scan or take a readable photo of the form.
    3. Send the form to us via MyPension by using the Send a message -feature.
    Log in to MyPension

    If you don't have Finnish online banking credentials, send the form as a secure message. Choose the topic 'Affairs of a pensioner living abroad'.

The bank may charge an intermediary fee

If an earnings-related pension is paid to a country outside the EU and EEA, the Finnish intermediary bank deducts an intermediary fee from the pension. The foreign receiver bank may deduct fees from the pension also when an earnings-related pension is paid to an EU or EEA country. To find out how much a foreign bank’s fees are, contact your bank directly.

If your account number changes, inform us

Inform us if your account number changes. This must be done in writing. Follow these steps:

  1. Print out and fill in the Foreign bank account change notification form (PDF). Remember to sign the form.
  2. Scan or take a readable photo of the form.
  3. Send the form to us in a message via MyPension.
Log in to MyPension

If you don't have Finnish online banking credentials, you can send the form to us as a secure message. Choose the topic 'Affairs of a pensioner living abroad'.

When will the pension be paid?

We will pay the pension once a month on the first banking day of the month. A banking day means a day during which banks are open. If the first day of the month is a Saturday or a public holiday, the pension will be paid on the following weekday.

Please note that transmitting the pension to a foreign bank may take roughly a week.

Read more about payment of pension and check the payment dates

Notify us if you move abroad or your address abroad changes

Notify us if you move abroad permanently or your address abroad changes. This way you can ensure the continuity of your pension payments.

If you move abroad permanently and you have submitted a move notification to Finnish authorities, also notify us of the date on which you moved abroad. Moving may affect the taxation of your pension. Also notify us of your new address if you move permanently back to Finland.

You can notify us of a change of address by sending us a secure message.

Fill in the country of residence enquiry once a year to ensure that your pension payments continue

We check the information of our pension recipients living abroad once a year, because a change in the information may have an impact on the payment of pension (TyEL, Section 113, Paragraph 2.).

If you live abroad, you will receive from us a country of residence enquiry by email in the beginning of March every year. If we do not have your email address, we will send the enquiry by post.

You must respond to the country of residence enquiry by the date indicated in the message. We will unfortunately have to suspend the payment of your pension if we do not receive your response. The payment will continue once we have received your response.

The enquiry is not sent to countries whose authorities provide us with the necessary information, such as Sweden, Norway and Germany.

Taxation of pensioners living abroad

Withholding tax is deducted from pensions even when they are paid abroad. The withholding tax amount depends on, among other things, your citizenship, the number of years you have lived abroad and the tax treaties between your country of residence and Finland.

If you have lived abroad for at least three years in addition to the year in which you moved, you are considered to be living permanently abroad. This means that you have limited tax liability in Finland, and we will request the tax card directly from the Finnish tax authority. If you are a citizen of a foreign country and you move permanently away from Finland, you will have limited tax liability already before that.

If you have just moved abroad, you have general tax liability and you must apply to the Finnish tax authority for a pension tax card. Once you have applied for a pension tax card, no further actions are required from you, because the tax authority will send your pension tax card to us.

What we do if we do not have your pension tax card

More information about the taxation of a pensioner living abroad can be found on the tax authority’s website (vero.fi)

  1. Information on foreign pension matters

    We have compiled information on foreign pension matters, such as pension accrual and applying for pension from abroad, and taking care of matters while abroad.

    Read information on foreign pension matters