Finnish health insurance contributions
Two small contributions fund Finland’s health insurance, and they are worked out on different amounts with different rules.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Calculation method
Employees in Finland pay two health insurance contributions in 2026: the health care contribution (sairaanhoitomaksu) of 1.10 % and the daily allowance contribution (päivärahamaksu) of 0.88 %. The first is charged on municipal taxable income, the second on gross pay. On €36,000 a year that is €352 plus €317, €669 in total. The daily allowance contribution only applies once annual wages reach €17,255, and then on the whole amount, not just the part above it. Pensions and Kela benefits carry a higher health care contribution of 1.49 %, which includes a 0.39 % surcharge, but no daily allowance contribution. Neither appears on your payslip as a separate line: both are built into the withholding rate on your tax card (verokortti). The daily allowance contribution is deductible from your income; the health care contribution is not. On low pay the earned income tax credit can wipe the health care contribution out entirely.
Health insurance contributions on pay
Total per year
€669
| Health care contribution (on taxable income) | €352 |
| Daily allowance contribution (on pay) | €317 |
| Daily allowance threshold | €17,255 |
Two contributions, two bases
Under Vero’s 2026 withholding rules the two health insurance contributions are calculated separately. The health care contribution is 1.10% of the same taxable income used for municipal tax, after work expenses, employee contributions and the basic deduction. The daily allowance contribution is 0.88% of gross wages with nothing deducted. As a result, deductions and the earned income tax credit lower the first but never the second.
| Annual salary | Health care contribution | Daily allowance contribution | Total | Share of pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| €15,000 | €0 | €0 | €0 | 0.00 % |
| €17,255 | €0 | €152 | €152 | 0.88 % |
| €25,000 | €95 | €220 | €315 | 1.26 % |
| €36,000 | €352 | €317 | €669 | 1.86 % |
| €50,000 | €492 | €440 | €932 | 1.86 % |
| €80,000 | €792 | €704 | €1,496 | 1.87 % |
At the bottom of the table neither contribution really bites: wages are under the threshold, and the earned income credit (työtulovähennys) exceeds state tax and spills over onto municipal tax and the health care contribution. At €25,000 only €94.64 of health care contribution is left, while the daily allowance contribution is already a full €220.
The threshold is a cliff, not an allowance
The €17,255 limit works as a switch. One euro below it, you pay no daily allowance contribution; at the limit, 0.88% is charged on your entire pay, €151.84. Even after the contribution reduces your taxable income, take-home pay drops by €150.96 at that point. For a part-time worker it is worth knowing, but rarely a reason to turn down hours: a few hundred euros more pay covers the step.
Your employer cannot see what you earn elsewhere, so Vero builds the contribution into your tax card rate from the annual income you estimated. If you said you would stay under the threshold and then crossed it, the contribution is collected as residual tax after the assessment.
How the earned income credit eats the health care contribution
The earned income credit is taken off state tax first. When state tax is smaller than the credit, the remainder is shared between municipal tax, church tax and the health care contribution in proportion to their size. At €25,000 taxable income is €20,907, so the nominal health care contribution would be €229.97. There is no state tax at that level, so the whole €3,430 credit lands on the other items and only €94.64 remains. The credit never touches the daily allowance contribution, which is why it is often the larger of the two on modest pay.
Two part-time jobs
The threshold covers all your wages for the year. Two part-time jobs paying €9,000 each are both well below it on their own, yet together they reach €18,000 and trigger a daily allowance contribution of €158. Both employers withhold from the same tax card, so the income limit you gave Vero decides whether the contribution is collected during the year or afterwards.
Pensions and benefits
For pensions, unemployment benefit, parental allowance and other benefits, the health care contribution is 1.49%: the base 1.10% plus a 0.39% surcharge, both listed on vero.fi’s 2026 tax bases. Benefits also get no earned income credit, so on €24,000 the health care contribution is €346.98 from benefits against €59.53 from wages. No daily allowance contribution is charged on pensions or benefits, since it belongs to work income only.
What the money pays for
Finnish health insurance has two parts. The health care contribution funds medical care insurance, which covers reimbursements such as medicine and travel costs. The daily allowance contribution funds earned-income insurance, which pays sickness allowance, parental allowances and rehabilitation allowance based on your previous earnings. Your employer pays its own health insurance contribution on top, which never appears on your payslip.
When Kela calculates a daily allowance, it reduces your annual income by an insurance contribution deduction of 9.07% before applying its formula. The parental allowance calculator does the same, so its result starts from a slightly lower figure than your gross salary.
On your payslip
Look for the pension contribution and unemployment insurance as separate deductions; the health insurance contributions sit inside the tax line, together with the Yle tax. The tax rate calculator splits them out so you can see how much of your percentage is contributions rather than tax.