Going over your income limit: how the additional rate works
The income limit (tuloraja) is the annual pay total after which withholding switches to the additional rate (lisäprosentti). Here is what that costs and when to change your card.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Calculation method
When your 2026 pay passes the income limit (tuloraja) printed on your tax card, your employer withholds the excess at the additional rate (lisäprosentti), not the base rate. A Tampere resident with a €36,000 limit and a 13.0% base rate has an additional rate of 38.0%: if pay actually reaches €40,000, the extra €4,000 is withheld at €1,520. Total withholding for the year comes to €6,200 against a final tax of €5,975, so about €225 comes back as a refund. The additional rate starts from a separate Vero scale running from 18.64% to 40.00% depending on taxable income, then adds municipal tax, church tax for members and the health insurance contributions. It is rounded to the half point, always sits at least two points above the base rate and never tops 60%. A small overshoot rarely needs a new card; a limit set far below your real pay usually does.
Going over the income limit
Additional rate
38.0 %
| Withheld on the excess | €1,520 |
| Withheld over the year | €6,200 |
| Final tax | €5,975 |
| Refund about | €225 |
A switch point, not a ceiling
Newcomers often read the income limit as the most they are allowed to earn. It is nothing of the kind. Payroll tracks your cumulative gross pay from 1 January and applies the base rate until that running total reaches the limit. The payment that crosses it is split: the part up to the limit at the base rate, the part above at the additional rate. Every later payment that year is withheld at the additional rate in full. Because the limit covers the calendar year, the counter resets with your new card in January.
How Vero builds the additional rate
Vero’s withholding decision contains its own additional-rate scale. The bracket matching the taxable income behind your limit gives the state element; Vero then adds your municipal rate, your parish rate if you belong to the church, the health care contribution (1.10%) and the daily allowance contribution (0.88%) where those apply to your income.
| Taxable income from | Scale rate |
|---|---|
| €0 | 18.64% |
| €10,000 | 19.50% |
| €15,000 | 20.50% |
| €22,000 | 23.00% |
| €25,500 | 28.00% |
| €32,700 | 32.00% |
| €40,200 | 35.00% |
| €46,000 | 37.00% |
| €52,100 | 40.00% |
Take the €36,000 limit in Tampere. Taxable income at that level is €31,985, which lands in the 28.00% bracket. Add Tampere’s 7.60% municipal rate and the two contributions, round to the half point, and the card shows 38.0%. A final check ensures the result is at least two points above the base rate. On the Åland Islands the scale is lowered by 12.64 points, mirroring the state tax reduction there.
Because the bracket is picked from your limit, the additional rate climbs in steps as the limit rises. For a Tampere employee outside the church it is 30.5% on a €25,000 card and 50.0% on a €70,000 card, while the base rates are 6.0% and 26.5%. The gap is widest for low earners, whose deductions push average tax close to zero but stop growing once income rises.
Three overshoots compared
The design leans towards over-withholding when you slip slightly past the limit. When the limit is far from reality, the outcome can flip. The table shows a Tampere employee outside the church on three different cards.
| Limit | Actual pay | Rates | Withheld | Final tax | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| €36,000 | €40,000 | 13.0 / 38.0% | €6,200 | €5,975 | refund €225 |
| €30,000 | €60,000 | 10.0 / 38.0% | €14,400 | €13,944 | refund €456 |
| €15,000 | €60,000 | 0.0 / 28.5% | €12,825 | €13,944 | owed €1,119 |
In the first two rows the limit is too low, but the additional rate is high enough to cover the year. The third row is the default card that many people get on arrival: a €15,000 limit whose additional rate of 28.5% was set for a low income. On a €60,000 salary, where the top euros are taxed far more heavily, withholding falls €1,119 short and that amount arrives as residual tax the following year. If you are on that card, fix it now rather than at assessment time.
Month by month: the holiday bonus tips you over
Most people cross the limit without noticing. Say you earn €3,000 a month and gave twelve months of pay, €36,000, as your limit. In June the holiday bonus (lomaraha) arrives, for instance 50% of monthly pay, or €1,500. Your running total is now ahead of plan, and the limit is crossed with the December salary. The €1,500 above it is withheld at 38.0% instead of 13.0%, taking €375 more from that payslip. You get it back after the assessment, but the payslip is visibly smaller. Including the holiday bonus and any taxable benefits when you set the limit avoids this.
Benefit payers receive the same card, so the limit covers taxable benefits as well as wages. A spell of unemployment or parental leave counts towards the same running total.
Change the card or leave it?
- You are a few thousand euros over a limit you set yourself: let the additional rate run. The assessment evens it out, usually in your favour.
- You are on the default card, or your real pay is more than double the limit: order a revised tax card so the rest of the year is withheld correctly.
- You already know about a raise, holiday bonus or signing bonus: raise the limit straight away, so the base rate stays right and the additional rate never kicks in.
Raising the limit normally nudges the base rate up too, since higher income lifts your average tax. The tax rate calculator gives the new pair of numbers, and the tax card guide explains every line on the card. If withholding still falls short, the residual tax is due in the following year.
Sources: Finnish Tax Administration decision on the 2026 withholding calculation rules for wages (20 Nov 2025); vero.fi: 2026 tax bases (health insurance contributions, Yle tax).