Resources

Taxes in Finland
  • There are a few different ways to be paid in Finland.
  • Send your own invoice. Website like Ukko ask a small fee, but make all the tax calculations for you.
  • Send in your Finnish Tax Card. It can be paid in two ways:
  • 1) Wage Income (PALKKA). This card is used when you do more continuous work for one institution. It’s organised with a work contract and your tax card. The employer pays fees and taxes. Everything is automatically calculated in your tax proposal from the incomes register.
  • 2) Trade Income (TYÖKORVAUS). This card is used for one-time fees where you, the artist, handle your own taxes. It’s a different tax card. The payer pays only income tax, no other fees. Check the www.vero.fi rules. If you are VAT registered, VAT comes on top (Currently, there is a 15,000€ cap to yearly income here before you have to start paying 24% VAT tax.). For a further explanation, see No Niin Article.
Notary Public Services

This service handles the notarization of signatures and copies of certificates and authentications of resumes, among other things. The services can also confirm a person’s rights to act on behalf of a company or public authority. https://dvv.fi/en/services-of-notary-public

Suomi.fi Web Service

Helps citizens and entrepreneurs in different situations. In Suomi.fi, the information, instructions and services you need to take care of matters have been compiled in one address. After identification into Suomi.fi, you can communicate with different organisations, grant and request mandates and check the data registered on you. https://www.suomi.fi/frontpage

Grants and open calls
Budgets and financial
  • Project budget template for grant applications. It is organised according to Taike’s application format, though of course you can also add and delete different categories and line items to suit the needs of your project. 
  • Expenses report template, that will assist you in tracking, reporting, and visualising all expenses related to your project. Additionally, we share a practical example utilising this template. It uses the figures from last year’s Annual Exhibition, so you can also gain insights into the actual costs of the project: Example of Expense report- Annual Exhibition 2023. Note that the template doesn’t include fees or working grants for labour—be sure to keep track of your working hours, and estimate a fee to cover them. A project like the Annual Exhibition would be at least 2-3 months of full time organising work, which fluctuates depending on the amount of collaborators and ambition of the installation. Be sure to add in fees for documentation too! 
  • Tuo Tuo’s Resource Library. They generously share budgets and texts from their successful grant applications to Finnish funding bodies.
  • Suggested rates of pay from Artists.fi (and adding a freelancer premium!) when you’re next negotiating a working relationship. 
accessibility and care
  • The Easy to Read Artists’ Contract. Developed by artist and former lawyer Jack Ky Tan through a commission by FACT. It offers many learnings and a great downloadable contract template to assist you in getting on the same page as your collaborations.
  • Urban Apa’s Communications Manual for Performing Arts Events. This guide was born out of a need for clear communications guidelines and checklists within the performing arts field. Initiated by UrbanApa and written by Pragma Helsinki, the manual addresses both basic communication needs, as well as more in-depth accessibility features that one might come across when organising art events.
  • Taku’s Guidelines for dealing with harassment and inappropriate treatment . The guide pays particular attention to small work communities and association-based operators. It touches upon the laws in Finland that are designed to protect people from experiencing harassment in the workplace, and provides some tools and strategies for how to act in such situations as an employee, manager, or board member.  
  • From Australia: The National Association for Visual Arts’ Code of Practice. This expansive document sets out an array of equitable, ethical, and self-reflective standards to support professional contemporary artists in their working life. It covers good practice approaches to working relationships, ethical standards of access and inclusion, and payment rates for artists and arts workers. These are particularly important in the face of increasingly precarious conditions that make work and practise unsustainable for many. The Code serves as a map for ensuring a collaborative, equitable, creative, and inclusive sector for current and future participants, while doubling as an advocacy tool. 
  • The Access Toolkit for Artists. Developed by practitioners based in the UK & Ireland, but is applicable to many contexts. It “contains practical information on how to plan, produce, and exhibit accessible art projects including information on access riders, financial planning, slow production, display, and creating an accessible workplace. This information is intended to address the access barriers faced by d/Deaf, neurodivergent, chronically ill and disabled artists, audiences and artworkers, and those who experience ableism.” 
Discrimination Helplines

In issues related to discrimination and equality, contact the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman, :

    • By filling out the Contact on discrimination -formLink to an external website an external website
    • By sending e-mail to yvv(at)oikeus.fi
    • By calling the helpline, open Tuesday–Thursday from 10:00–12:00: +358 295 666 817
    • In the chat on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1 pm to 3 pm and on Fridays from 10 AM to 12 noon (on our website). Chat is available only when you accept website cookies.
    • In Sign language by sending a video by e-mail to yvv(at)oikeus.fi.xternal 

  • You can also call the Ombudsman for Equality, an independent authority whose main duty is to supervise compliance with the Act on Equality between Women and Men:

      • Helpline is +358 295 666 842 (Mon-Tue 9-11 and Wed-Thu 13-15) 
      • In Switchboard: +358 295 666 830 
      • Find out MORE

other Useful Information
  • Shape
    SHAPE map is a website resource for Helsinki’s contemporary art landscape, a mapping of art spaces and public events across the city. SHAPE is a useful tool for local residents and visitors to navigate the diversity of Helsinki art scenes and to find out what’s happening, where and when. SHAPE highlights current public events, spaces, times and locations. Users and visitors can browse upcoming activities as well as find out more about their initiating organisations. SHAPE is organized around eight main categorizes of activity: Events, Exhibitions, Festivals, Initiatives, Museums, Publications, Supports, and Workspaces:
  • “Making a living as a visual artist” on the Artists’ Association of Finland website 
    The Making a living as a visual artist page provides visual artists with practical information, guidance and support on working as an artist in Finland. It contains information about various topics, such as social security for visual artists, taxation, contracts, organising work and selling artworks.
  • Theatre Info Finland TINFO
    As an expert in the performing arts, TINFO produces theatre statistics, conducts reports, and processes and analyses data. Our mentoring helps theatre professionals increase their international mobility and find partners. TINFO’s activities increase awareness of Finnish plays and performing arts.
  • The White Pube’s Successful Funding Application Library, and Successful Project Proposal Library. If you’re searching for examples of how to structure and pitch information, or simply for inspiration, we recommend a deep browse to this international resource. 
  •  Flowchart for Visualising Association Annual Processes & AGM preparation. It’s a common (but quite admin-heavy) way of organising in Finland, and this spells out all the key steps needed to sustain this model. While there are benefits like eligibility for particular funding, and not being personally responsible for finances and taxes, if you’re considering starting an association, it’s also worth considering alternatives like developing an auspice agreement with a registered association, instead of joining the approximately 108,000 associations currently operating in Finland.