Light entrepreneurship is the easiest way to invoice for your work

Light entrepreneurship is a flexible way to work and invoice without setting up your own company. You can work in an entrepreneurial way and focus on the work itself, while we take care of invoicing, taxes, and filings on your behalf.

Light entrepreneurship doesn’t require your own Business ID, but you can also choose to work with one if you prefer. You decide which option suits you best — and you can switch between them as your needs change.

Light entrepreneurship suits professionals from a wide range of fields and life situations. Typical light entrepreneurs include creative professionals, consultants, gig workers, and professionals in the service and construction industries.

Light entrepreneurship works equally well for occasional invoicing and regular work. It’s an easy solution for freelancers, side hustlers, and first-time entrepreneurs, as well as for those under 18 or receiving an old-age pension who want to earn income without setting up a company.

Whether light entrepreneurship is worth it depends on your own situation, the volume of work, and how you price your services. For many people, light entrepreneurship is a cost-effective and hassle-free way to invoice — especially when the work is occasional or done alongside regular employment.

As a light entrepreneur, you save time by not having to manage company administration and paperwork yourself. This frees up more time for billable work and focusing on your skills, which for many people is a decisive advantage.

It’s worth thinking through the impact of pricing and expenses on your take-home earnings in advance. Our income calculator makes it easy to see how much you’d receive after deductions under different options. Light entrepreneurship with a Business ID can in turn be a smart choice if your work is regular and you want to take advantage of the tax benefits of business activity, operate in a licensed industry, or sell products on invoice.

Light entrepreneurship is an easy and low-risk way to test out entrepreneurship without taking on a big commitment. You get a straightforward solution for invoicing and tax matters, so you can focus on developing your idea and finding clients. Our service supports you from your first steps in entrepreneurship through to growth — with up-to-date information, guides, and expert customer support. You’re never on your own at any stage of the journey.

For unemployment benefit purposes, light entrepreneurship is treated in the same way as regular entrepreneurship. A light entrepreneur’s entitlement to unemployment benefits depends on a number of factors, including the Employment and Economic Development Office’s (TE Office) assessment of whether the entrepreneurial activity has been part-time or full-time. A light entrepreneur working on a part-time basis may be able to claim unemployment benefit from an employee unemployment fund, provided the employment condition for employees has been met. A full-time light entrepreneur should make sure to join a self-employed person’s unemployment fund and keep up with their self-employment pension (YEL) contributions to ensure they have a safety net in the event of unemployment.

As a light entrepreneur without a Business ID, your income is taxed as earned income. In UKKO Light Entrepreneur, the tax you pay is determined by your personal tax rate, and UKKO.fi handles payroll processing as well as all statutory payments and filings to the Finnish Tax Administration on your behalf. This lets you focus on your work without any administrative hassle.

Withholding tax information is generally obtained directly from the Finnish Tax Administration. As a light entrepreneur, you can also apply for income acquisition deductions in your personal taxation in accordance with the Tax Administration’s guidelines — for example, in relation to any self-employment pension (YEL) contributions you may have made.

With a Business ID, taxation as a light entrepreneur consists of advance tax and, where applicable, VAT. UKKO.fi handles these tax matters on your behalf, making running your business as straightforward as possible.

Advance tax on business income is paid to the Finnish Tax Administration. If your activity is small-scale and you also have employment income, you can order a new employment tax card through MyTax, on which you declare both your employment earnings and your business income subject to advance tax as a combined figure. Alternatively, you can use the Tax Administration’s calculator to estimate your business income only, and then add the corresponding advance tax rate for earned income to our system. Once you enter your tax rate in UKKO.fi, we withhold the advance tax portion from your invoices accordingly and remit it to the Finnish Tax Administration.

If you are registered for VAT, all invoices you send will include VAT, which is paid by the buyer. In this case, UKKO.fi withholds the VAT from your invoices and remits it to the Finnish Tax Administration on your behalf. In practice, all you need to do is tell us your tax rate — and then you can focus on your business. Simple, right?

In certain situations, a light entrepreneur is required to take out a self-employment pension (YEL) insurance policy, just like other entrepreneurs. For UKKO Light Entrepreneur users operating without a Business ID, we offer a complete YEL service where, if you choose, we handle your YEL contributions directly from your earnings — with no separate payments or invoices to worry about. For light entrepreneurs operating with a Business ID, we help with arranging the insurance, but the contributions must be managed independently.

It’s also possible to become a light entrepreneur as a minor. The minimum age for UKKO Light Entrepreneur without a Business ID is 14 years old. A guardian’s consent is required for minors. Read more in our article Light Entrepreneurship as a Minor.

To join UKKO Light Entrepreneur with a Business ID, you must be at least 18 years old.