Line of business is asked in the start-up notification (Y3 form) for two purposes:

• description of lines of business for the trade register
• main operating sector to be declared to the tax administration

The line of industry is indicated also on the tax return form of businesses. Private individuals do not have to indicate occupation when filing tax return.

Occupation or line of industry might be asked also for other purposes.

Lines of business for the trade register

Description on the lines of business is usually rather wide and general.

If you do not want to give description of your business you can write: yleistoimiala. This means general branch and it covers all business branches.

Main line of business to the Tax Administration

For the Tax Administration you have to give your main line of industry according to the Standard Industrial Classification.

The line of business does not affect your taxation. It is needed for statistics.

Each category of the classification includes wide range of services. None of the categories reveals the nature of your business in detail.

It is possible that your business covers several categories of the classification. Your main line of industry is given according to which type of business brings most profit.

Further information on the Standard Industrial Classification:

• Statistics Finland
• Standard Industrial Classification TOL 2008
• In Swedish: Näringsgrensindelningen 2008
• Official line of industry for sexual services

Occupation or line of industry for other purposes

Occupation or line of industry is not a relevant question for most purposes. Much more important questions is: Are you employee or self-employed?

For some purposes you need to describe your occupation or business. If you apply for self-employed persons accident insurance you have to describe your work. (You are not asked your occupation or branch for YEL pension insurance.)

Giving false information for an insurance company can result in not being compensated from the insurance.