Tax return type A

What it means

The type A tax return is the personal income tax form for people whose only income in the year was employment income, meaning from a job, work agreements, the office of director or employment abroad, possibly alongside income already taxed by withholding.

It replaces the annual reconciliation the employer would otherwise carry out. It is filed by an employee who had several employers at the same time, did not sign the declaration, worked abroad, or wants to claim something the employer could not take into account.

If a person has other taxable income besides employment, for example from business, rent or a sale, type A is not enough and a type B return is filed. What decides is the kind of income, not the amount.

How it works in practice

The basis is the certificates of taxable income from all employers. The return adds up income and tax advances withheld, applies the personal tax allowance, where relevant the spouse allowance and supplementary pension contributions, and the child tax credit.

The return is due by the end of March of the following year, and the filing deadline can be extended by a deferral. The return also allows a tax assignation, and the result is either tax to pay or a tax overpayment, whose refund is requested on the form itself.

Foreign income is handled under the double tax treaty with the country concerned, usually by the credit or exemption method. A certificate of the income and tax paid abroad is needed, and we prepare such cases according to the specific treaty.

What to watch out for

A common mistake is not filing although the obligation arose, for example when working for two employers at once. Each withheld tax advances separately, and together this often leaves tax underpaid, which after the deadline is paid with a penalty for late filing.

The second mistake is filing type A when there was other income, such as from selling shares or from rent above the exempt amount. The return is then incomplete, an additional type B return has to be filed and the difference paid together with a penalty.