Short-term rental rules in Finland 2026: a host's guide to VAT, taloyhtiö limits and the coming 90-day cap

Finland's short-term rental scene has grown fast, and the rules around it are tightening. If you rent an apartment on Airbnb, Booking.com or directly, three things decide whether you can host at all — and how much you keep: whether it counts as accommodation business, VAT, and your housing company's rules. A fourth is on the horizon: a proposed cap on how many nights a year you can let. Here's the plain-language version for 2026.

*This is general information, not legal or tax advice. The rules below can change and some depend on your exact situation — confirm anything important with the Tax Administration (Vero), your accountant, or us before you rely on it.*

1. Is your rental a "business"? (majoitustoiminta vs. vuokraus)

The single most important distinction. Finnish law treats two things very differently:

• Residential letting (asunnon vuokraus) — a normal tenancy, months or years, one tenant. VAT-exempt. This is not what most Airbnb hosting is.
• Accommodation business (majoitustoiminta) — short stays, changing guests, a furnished space with services (linen, cleaning, keys). This is a business activity, it is VAT-liable, and it triggers the rules below.

If your listing is nightly or weekly stays to a stream of guests, you are almost certainly running majoitustoiminta, even as a private individual and even as a side hustle.

2. VAT: the reduced rate, and when you have to register

Accommodation is taxed at Finland's reduced VAT rate — 13.5% (in effect from 1 January 2026), not the 25.5% standard rate. That's the rate you charge guests and remit to Vero.

You generally have to register for VAT once your turnover crosses the small-business threshold for a calendar year. Below it you can stay outside VAT — but then you also can't deduct VAT on your costs. Many growing hosts register voluntarily so they can reclaim VAT on furnishing, cleaning and repairs.

The upside of being in the VAT system: you deduct the VAT on the things you buy to run the place — furniture, linen, cleaning, maintenance, the management fee. For a furnished short-term rental those inputs add up.

3. Can your taloyhtiö stop you?

Often the real gatekeeper. A Finnish housing company (taloyhtiö) can't always block short-term letting outright, but it has more power than many hosts assume:

• If hosting turns the flat into what's effectively business/accommodation use, that can conflict with the apartment's residential purpose (käyttötarkoitus) — and that's a lever the taloyhtiö can pull.
• Persistent disturbance (noise, strangers with keys, wear on shared spaces) gives the board grounds to intervene, and in serious cases the company can take possession of the apartment for a period.
• The shareholders' meeting can adopt rules that restrict the activity.

Before you list, read your articles of association (yhtiöjärjestys) and house rules, and ideally talk to the board. A short conversation up front is far cheaper than a dispute later.

4. The coming 90/180-day cap

The biggest change on the horizon. Finland has been preparing legislation that would cap how many nights a year an ordinary home can be let for short-term accommodation — the figure discussed is around 90 days. This is proposed legislation, not yet in force, so treat the numbers as provisional. The intent mirrors caps already in cities like Amsterdam and London: let people earn from occasional letting, without turning housing stock into de-facto hotels.

If it passes, the practical effect is that letting beyond the cap would require operating as a proper accommodation business (registration, tighter rules), while occasional hosts stay under it. Nothing is in force yet — but if you're building a portfolio around year-round nightly letting, this is the rule to watch.

5. What to do now — a host's checklist

1. Classify honestly — nightly, changing guests = accommodation business. Plan for VAT and bookkeeping from day one. 2. Track turnover toward the VAT threshold; register when you cross it, or voluntarily if reclaiming input VAT beats staying out. 3. Get your taloyhtiö on side — read the rules, talk to the board, keep guests quiet and the building tidy. 4. Keep clean records — nights, income, and every deductible cost. It makes VAT painless and protects you if anything is questioned. 5. Watch the cap — build in the flexibility to shift toward medium-term letting if a 90-day limit lands.

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Getting this right is exactly what we do every day across our own 60+ apartments. If you'd like a straight answer on your specific apartment — is it even allowed, do you need to register, what's it costing you not to — book a consulting session and we'll walk through it with you.