Flexibility in YEL contributions

You can pay 10–100 per cent higher contributions. We will send you a separate invoice for the higher contribution and it must be paid during the year of flexibility. If you pay additional contributions, the combined total of your insurance contributions cannot exceed the contribution calculated for the upper limit of YEL income (€183,125 in 2021). If you wish to make additional contributions, you can do so every year, for instance. Additional contributions are tax deductible, just like other YEL contributions.

You can pay 10–20 per cent lower insurance contributions. If you lower your contributions, the combined total of your insurance contributions cannot be lower than the contribution calculated for the lower limit of YEL income (€8,063.57 in 2021). You can reduce your contributions for a maximum of three years within seven consecutive calendar years.

Apply for payment flexibility through Varma Online Service

Send us a written notice indicating that you would like to use the flexibility option. The easiest way to apply for payment flexibility is through Varma Online Service. Be sure to submit the notice in good time, as the application must be processed and the additional contributions must be paid during the year of flexibility. Your notice must indicate which flexibility option you are requesting, and the amount either as a percentage or a euro amount.

You can flexibly adjust your YEL contributions if

• your insurance is valid for the full year of flexibility,
• your insurance is valid for the full calendar year with the same pension insurance company,
• you do not have overdue, unpaid YEL contributions,
• you do not receive the discount for the newly self-employed and
• you do not yet receive earnings-related pension from Finland (including part-time pension and partial old-age pension).

The flexibility will be cancelled if it is later discovered that you ware not, in fact, eligible for it due to changes made to the insurance policy. The flexibility will be cancelled, for example, if your YEL income is changed or if the insurance ends during the year of opting for flexibility. If the flexibility is cancelled, the insurance contributions will be re-calculated according to your confirmed YEL income.

Log in and apply for payment flexibility

YEL income must reflect your work input and operating conditions. If significant changes take place in your self-employment and the changes affect your YEL income, you should change your YEL income rather than use the flexibility option.

Change your YEL income in our online service

In terms of your other social security benefits, it is important to keep your YEL income continuously at the right level, as the flexibility option only affects pension. The flexibility option does not affect, e.g., the level of daily allowance under the Finnish Health Insurance Act or unemployment security.

Using the flexibility option will affect the amount of your total YEL income for that year. By lowering your contributions, your total YEL income will also be lower and, correspondingly, additional contributions will raise your total YEL income. Your total YEL income is used as the basis for calculating your pension accrual for that year.

If disability pension applies to you, you should note that neither additional contributions paid the year before the start of the disability pension nor a reduction in insurance contributions will, in general, be taken into account when calculating the projected pension component for disability pension.