Annual income

A doctor determines that Matti is incapable of work starting from 14 April 2024. Matti applies for sickness allowance from Kela. The month preceding the start of the daily allowance, in this case March 2024, is not included in the annual income reference period. The reference period is thus 1 March 2023 to 28 February 2024.

Maija applies for pregnancy allowance on 15 July 2024 for the period 27 October 2024 to 14 December 2024. The month preceding the start of her pregnancy leave, in this case September 2024, is not included in the annual income reference period. The reference period is thus 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2024. The decision can be issued at the beginning of September, at the earliest.

Income earned abroad can be included in annual income even if you have not been covered by health insurance in Finland. Income earned abroad is included if all the following conditions are met:

• You have moved back to Finland.
• During the 12 month reference period (linkki), you have been paid a wage or salary for work in another EU Member State or in a country that applies the EU legislation (e.g. Norway).
• After your return to Finland, you are again covered under the Finnish national health insurance system.
• You have no annual income from Finland.

If the salary you earned abroad is significantly lower or higher than the salary you would have received for a similar job in Finland, your daily allowance will be based on an estimate made by Kela. It is an estimate of the income that you would have received for similar work in Finland, considering your education and qualifications. 

Use the sickness allowance calculator (available in Finnish or Swedish) to estimate the amount of sickness allowance you can get. If you want to calculate the amount of daily allowance yourself, use the calculation formula.

Use the rehabilitation allowance calculator (available in Finnish or Swedish) to estimate the amount of rehabilitation allowance you can get. If you want to calculate the amount of daily allowance yourself, use the calculation formula.

Use the calculator to estimate the amount of daily allowances for parents that you could get. If you want to calculate the amount of daily allowance yourself, use the calculation formula.

Kela cannot issue a decision on daily allowances for parents until the reference period for the annual income has ended.

Use the calculator to estimate the amount of special care allowance that you can get. If you want to calculate the amount of daily allowance yourself, use the calculation formula.

Earnings from private- or public-sector employment paid during the reference period are included in the annual income. However, the entire earnings are not included in the annual income, but an insurance contribution deduction is made first.

Kela usually receives information on wages and salaries from the national Incomes Register, so you need not report this information to Kela separately. Please note that employers also report income that is not included in the annual income, e.g. reimbursements of costs, to the Incomes Register. Kela does not include these in the annual income.

If you think that your earnings data in the Incomes Register contain inaccuracies or incorrect information, you should ask your employer to correct the information. You cannot correct the data in the Incomes Register yourself.

If you have been working abroad as a posted worker during the reference period and a salary for insurance purposes has been determined for this period of employment, this will be taken into account in your annual income instead of the salary actually paid. However, the salary for insurance purposes is not included in the annual income in its entirety, as an insurance contribution deduction is made first.

If you are an entrepreneur insured under the self-employed persons' (YEL) or farmers' (MYEL) pension insurance schemes, your annual income will include your reported income under either of those schemes but only for the time your pension insurance has been in force during the reference period.

If the YEL or MYEL insurance has not been in force during the reference period, no income from self-employment is included in the annual income. This also applies to so-called light entrepreneurs.

Other types of income from self-employment is not taken into account in the annual income, for instance wage income from your own business or earnings from self-employment.

You are a part-time entrepreneur if you have worked as an entrepreneur during the reference period at the same time as you have been employed by another employer.

In this situation, your annual income includes your wage or salary income and your income under the YEL and MYEL schemes from the period when the insurance has been in force. However, your wage or salary income is not included in the annual income in its entirety, as an insurance contribution deduction is made first.

If you have a research or arts grant or scholarship and you have a MYEL insurance with the Farmers' Social Insurance Institution (Mela) based on the grant or scholarship, your annual income is calculated on the basis of your reported income under the MYEL insurance.

If you are not required to take out MYEL insurance on the basis of the grant or scholarship, the grant or scholarship is not taken into account in the annual income.

The amount of your annual income can also be based on certain benefits that you have received during the 12-month reference period.

This is called benefit-based income, and it is always calculated on the basis of an average (so-called calculated income). It is thus not the same as the total amount of the benefits that you have been granted during the reference period. Instead, it is calculated on the basis of the daily average of the benefits you have received during the reference period.

There is always a difference between the benefit-based income and the total amount of the benefits you receive. In some cases, the difference can be considerable. We use benefit-based income to ensure that your income does not decrease even if the benefit you receive changes.

Only the following benefits are taken into account if they have been granted for the reference period for annual income:

• unemployment benefits
• job alternation compensation
• sickness allowance
• daily allowance under the YEL Act or sickness allowance paid by the Farmers’ Social Insurance Institution (Mela)
• partial sickness allowance
• daily allowances for parents
• special care allowance
• sickness allowance on account of human cell, tissue or organ donation
• rehabilitation allowance from Kela
• rehabilitation allowance or rehabilitation increment under the Earnings-related Pensions Acts
• disability pension paid under the Earnings-related Pensions Acts
• disability pension paid under the National Pensions Act
• guarantee pension as a supplement to disability pension
• adult education allowance
• adjustment pension or adjustment allowance for Members of Parliament
• study grant.

Benefits paid to the employer are not included in the annual income because you have received wages for the same period. Your wages are included in your annual income, so the same amount cannot be included in your annual income a second time as benefits.

Benefits may also be received retroactively, in which case they will be included retroactively in the annual income for the reference period. In this case, contact Kela so that the amount of your daily allowance can be recalculated.

Compensation paid for loss of income during the reference period is included in your annual income if the compensation is for

• an accident at work
• an occupational disease
• a traffic accident
• a patient injury
• a military injury
• a communicable disease under the Act on Communicable Diseases (sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease)

Compensation is usually not included in annual income if you receive some other benefit from Kela at the same time.

Compensation paid to the employer is not included in your annual income because you have received wages for the same period Your wages are included in your annual income, so the same amount cannot be included in your annual income a second time as compensation for loss of income.