Can I invoice a foreign company through Palkkaguru?

Yes. The invoice goes out in our name with the client's details on it. The client's country does not prevent invoicing, it decides how VAT is handled.

Is Finnish VAT charged if the client is outside the EU?

No. Under the general rule, a service sold to a business established outside the EU is not taxed in Finland or in any EU country. The sale is reported as zero-rated turnover on the Finnish VAT return.

Can the invoice be issued in a currency other than the euro?

We currently invoice in euros. The euro is safer for the person invoicing, because you receive the amount invoiced and any exchange rate movement is carried by the payer.

Can I do part of the work abroad?

Occasional client visits and meetings are ordinary consulting work when the work is done and managed from Finland. If the share done abroad becomes regular rather than occasional, the country where the work is performed may have rules of its own, and that is worth checking with the Tax Administration in advance.

Which exchange rate applies to a foreign payment?

The rate on the day the payment is settled. If an invoice is issued in a foreign currency, the exchange difference is carried by the party issuing it, and the same applies to the bank charges of international payment traffic.

Publications

Invoicing abroad: the client can be anywhere

A foreign client is not an obstacle to light entrepreneurship. What changes is how VAT is handled, which depends on where the client is and what the work concerns, and one exception is worth knowing before the first invoice.

Taxation14 October 2026Palkkaguru

Can you invoice a client abroad

You can. Light entrepreneurship takes no position on which country the client is in. The invoice goes out in our name, we follow the payment, and the fee is paid to you as wages with tax withheld, exactly as it is with a Finnish client.

What changes is VAT. It does not depend on where you are. It depends on where the client is and what the work concerns.

Who is the seller for VAT purposes

This is the part most often misunderstood. When the invoice is sent in the invoicing company’s name and the fee is paid as wages, the invoicing company is the seller in relation to the client. The person doing the work is not liable for VAT on the wages they receive.

In practice that means handling VAT correctly is our responsibility rather than yours. You do not register anywhere and you do not work out another country’s tax rules.

A business client outside the EU

Services sold to a business follow the general rule: the tax is due in the country where the buyer is established. When the buyer is a business outside the EU, in Switzerland for example, no tax is paid to Finland or to any EU country. The sale is reported on the Finnish VAT return as zero-rated turnover.

So no Finnish VAT appears on the invoice. The buyer’s own country may have rules about how it treats the service it bought, and that is the buyer’s matter to establish.

A business client in another EU country

Same general rule, different paperwork. The sale is taxed in the buyer’s country through the reverse charge, the buyer’s VAT identification number goes on the invoice, and the sale is also reported on a recapitulative statement.

That is why a valid VAT number is needed from an EU client. Without one the sale cannot be treated under the reverse charge.

The exception that concerns work tied to a place

The general rule does not cover everything. Services connected to immovable property are taxed in the country where the property is located, regardless of where the buyer is.

This matters in expert work tied to a specific site: ground and groundwater studies, assessment of a building site, design for one named location. General consulting is not a service connected to immovable property, but work bound to a single identified site can be.

If your work relates to a specific property abroad, tell us before the first invoice. The boundary is not always obvious, and VAT handled wrongly is more expensive to correct afterwards than to ask about beforehand.

Currency and exchange rate risk

We currently invoice in euros.

The euro is the safer option for the person invoicing. You receive the amount invoiced, and any movement in the exchange rate between invoice and payment is carried by the payer. When an invoice is issued in a foreign currency, the fee is determined by the rate on the day the payment settles, and the exchange rate risk sits with whoever issued it.

Bank charges and expenses

In international payment traffic, intermediary banks charge their own fees. Bank charges deducted from a payment arriving from outside the EU are also deducted from your settlement as expenses, so they are worth allowing for in your price.

Work-related expenses are handled the same way as in domestic work. You can add expenses to the sales invoice so that they are taken into account for tax, and daily allowances, mileage allowances and receipt-based reimbursements are settled when the payment is. See deductions and tax-free compensation.

When part of the work is done abroad

An occasional client visit, meeting or field day is ordinary consulting work when the work is done and managed from Finland. It does not change how you invoice.

If the share performed abroad grows from occasional to regular, the picture changes. The country where the work is done may have rules of its own about when work performed there is taxed there, and a person resident in Finland is in principle taxed on worldwide income. This is a situation to put to the Tax Administration in advance rather than reason out alone.

Where to start

If your client is abroad, tell us the client’s country and whether the work relates to one specific site. Those two facts decide how VAT is handled, and the rest is ordinary invoicing.

The commission calculator shows what is left of an invoice, and the consultants page gathers what is different about invoicing consulting work. Questions can be sent through the contact form.

Sources

Finnish Tax Administration, VAT on the international supply of services (checked 14.10.2026)
Finnish Tax Administration, the VAT treatment of invoicing service companies and workers, in Finnish (checked 14.10.2026)

This article is general information and does not replace checking your own situation.

Frequently asked

Can I invoice a foreign company through Palkkaguru?: Yes. The invoice goes out in our name with the client's details on it. The client's country does not prevent invoicing, it decides how VAT is handled.
Is Finnish VAT charged if the client is outside the EU?: No. Under the general rule, a service sold to a business established outside the EU is not taxed in Finland or in any EU country. The sale is reported as zero-rated turnover on the Finnish VAT return.
Can the invoice be issued in a currency other than the euro?: We currently invoice in euros. The euro is safer for the person invoicing, because you receive the amount invoiced and any exchange rate movement is carried by the payer.
Can I do part of the work abroad?: Occasional client visits and meetings are ordinary consulting work when the work is done and managed from Finland. If the share done abroad becomes regular rather than occasional, the country where the work is performed may have rules of its own, and that is worth checking with the Tax Administration in advance.
Which exchange rate applies to a foreign payment?: The rate on the day the payment is settled. If an invoice is issued in a foreign currency, the exchange difference is carried by the party issuing it, and the same applies to the bank charges of international payment traffic.

Tell us what you invoice, and we will work out which plan fits.

A free conversation, at our office or online. We go through whether light entrepreneurship makes sense in your situation, which plan works out cheapest for what you invoice, and whether you want the accident and liability cover. The conversation commits you to nothing.

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