Self-employed persons: Income and contributions to health insurance
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As self-employed, you must estimate your annual income from employment for purposes of your pension insurance for self-employed persons. In addition to your pension, your income affects the amount of the benefits available from Kela and your right to unemployment benefits.
Income limits under YEL and MYEL in 2024
- You must take out YEL insurance if you have income of at least EUR 9,010.28 per year.
- You must take out MYEL insurance if you have income of at least EUR 4,505.14 per year.
You must have a total income from employment of at least EUR 14,803 per year in order to qualify for unemployment allowance.
Which Kela benefits are affected by income from employment?
Kela calculates the amount of daily allowances on the basis of the annual income, i.e. for a reference period of 12 calendar months. For self-employed persons, the earned income subject to YEL (Self-Employed Persons' Pensions Act) or MYEL (Farmers' Pensions Act) insurance is included in the annual income. In addition to your pension, the income you have for insurance purposes also affects your right to unemployment benefits. It also affects the amounts of the following Kela benefits:
- allowances for parents
- sickness allowance
- rehabilitation allowance.
Wage income from your own business or income from self-employment are not included in the annual income. If your employment income under YEL or MYEL is small, you can get benefits at the minimum rate. If your income from employment has changed during the reference period, Kela will calculate your benefits on the basis of the average confirmed income.
Example
Liisa is a self-employed person. She falls ill, and the doctor confirms that she is incapable of work starting from 15 February 2021.
Liisa applies for sickness allowance from Kela. Kela calculates the sickness allowance on the basis of Liisa’s annual reported income. The reported income in Liisa’s insurance policy under YEL is 20,000 euros per year. The 12-month reference period is 1 January–31 December 2020.
Liisa gets an estimated 46 euros per working day in sickness allowance.
There are online calculators (available in Finnish and Swedish) you can use to estimate Kela benefits.
Which Kela benefits are affected by income from self-employment?
Some Kela benefits are affected by other types of income besides the YEL or MYEL income. For instance the care supplement in the child home care allowance and the social assistance (income support) are affected by your actual income from self-employment. The application form for each benefit explains which types of income you must document to Kela.
Income information available to Kela
YEL/MYEL income is reported to Kela directly by the relevant pension provider. You need not report them to Kela.
If you have wage income from some other source than your own business in addition to the YEL or MYEL income, Kela receives information on that income from the the national incomes register. Kela uses this data when processing claims and applications. We may ask for additional information, if necessary.
Health insurance contributions for self-employed persons
Administered by Kela, the National Health Insurance scheme is divided between two components: earned income insurance and medical care insurance. Self-employed persons pay a contribution towards daily allowances and a contribution to medical care insurance in connection with the preliminary withholding of taxes.
| Year | Contribution towards daily allowances | Contribution to medical care insurance |
| 2024 | 1.23%* | 0.51% |
| 2023 | 1.59%* | 1.48% |
*including an additional contribution