I want to suspend my limited company business activities - how to proceed?

Sometimes you need to pause your business activities for a while or you're uncertain how to continue them. In these situations, consider suspending your business instead of closing it down. It is often easier to suspend activities than closing the limited company down and creating a new one again later on. 

Even if the business has been discontinued, the company's liabilities and rights remain in force under Finnish law.

Suspending business activities might be the right choice if

• business activity becomes temporarily impossible (e.g. seasonality, illness, holiday season)
• risen costs have made business activities momentarily unprofitable
• you want to avoid administrative obligations at a time when there is no business activity
• you are not certain whether the activities will resume in the future.

How to suspend business activities of a limited company

Notify the suspension to the Finnish Tax Administration in MyTax, the Business Information System or a form in the Business Information System. The notification is free of charge.

After that,

• the Finnish Tax Administration removes the company from the necessary registers (VAT register, prepayment register and employer register)
• information on the suspension is relayed to the Trade Register automatically.

What to remember after a suspension notification:

• Submit the VAT return for the last tax period.
• Notify any salaries and employer contributions to the Incomes Register
• Submit a tax return if there has been business activity during the tax year.
• Prepare and register financial statements for each financial year even while operations are suspended.
• Keep the trade register (PRH) registrations up to date

When you want to resume your business activities, re-notify the company to the Finnish Tax Administration’s registers in MyTax or the Business Information System.

You can read more about the suspension here at PRH website. 

Remember to contact the customer service of UKKO Entrepreneur for Limited Companies when you are planning to either shut down or suspend business activities!