How do I change my company's address provided in BIS Search?
You can easily change your company’s address and other contact details in the electronic BIS Service. The service is available in Finnish and Swedish. You can use your bank identifiers or the electronic identity card (HST card). You can also submit your new contact details by using one of our amendment notifications (Y4, Y5 or Y6, tick the box “only contact information” The service is free of charge.
The BIS Service contains the postal address and other contact details that have been submitted to BIS. If you wish to receive the mail from the Tax Administration to some other address, you can notify it either in the BIS Service or, on the Y amendment notification, by writing your postal address in the box ‘Postal address to be given to the Tax Administration’. A person authorised to give such details must sign the notification.
How do I check whether a company or a person to whom I make a payment for labour or service is listed in the Prepayment Register?
In order to check this, you need the name and Business ID of the company or person receiving the payment. The company or person must mention these two details in the invoice. Both details are essential especially considering private traders, because the register may contain persons with the same name, or the name may not be included in public details because of privacy protection.
The details of the registered person or company can be retrieved from BIS Search by using the Business ID. The names of natural persons are displayed only if they are or have been listed in the Trade Register or the VAT Register. If the person is only listed in the Prepayment Register, his or her name will not be displayed in the public information service BIS Search because of privacy protection. The reason for this is that also persons not carrying out business are entered in the Prepayment Register.
If no names are retrieved by using the Business ID as search key, you can also try to use the invoicer's name. If the results contain details with the same Business ID, you can be sure that the Business ID and the registered details belong to that person.
If several persons with the same name are retrieved when you use the name as search key or if you are uncertain of the matter, you should check the name of the Business ID holder by calling the Tax Administration's client service number on +358 (0)20 697 051 or by contacting an office of the Tax Administration
The company has earlier been listed in, for example, the Prepayment Register. Why does BIS Search not provide this information?
Search only shows the register entries that are in force at the time of viewing.
Example:
The company has been removed from the Prepayment Register as of 1 May 2003 at the company's suggestion. The company's details are viewed on 2 May 2003 and no details of the Prepayment Register are provided under the heading "Registrations in force".
However, if you wish to study details that were in force before, you will find them with the effective and expiry dates by clicking on "show registration history". In the example mentioned above, BIS Search would provide the date as of which the company has been listed in the Prepayment Register and the expiry date 30 April 2003.
Why does BIS Search not provide any information on the registered association X? Only some registered associations can be found in BIS Search. The reason for this is that the Register of Associations does not take part in the Business Information System (BIS) jointly maintained by the National Board of Patents and Registration (NBPR) and the Tax Administration. At NBPR, only the Trade Register and the Register of Foundations are part of the BIS. Further details of the BIS and its registers can be found on this website under the heading "
What is the BIS?".
A registered association has a Business ID if the association is listed in the registers of the Tax Administration or in the Trade Register. In that case, you can study the association's identification and contact details in BIS Search and find out, for example in which registers of the Tax Administration the association is included. On the NBPR's website, you can also study the basic details of associations registered at the Register of Associations in a free-of-charge service called
AssociationNet.
Why is the name of the Business ID holder not displayed in BIS Search? The name and address details of natural persons (private trader as company form) cannot be made available in a public information service because of privacy protection if the person is not listed in the Trade Register or the VAT Register. Only the Business ID, company form and register entries are displayed in this case. In exceptional cases, the names are provided, if necessary, via our client service number +358 (0)20 697 051 or at the offices of the Tax Administration.
Why is it not possible to retrieve information by using the personal identity code?The public BIS Search database does not contain any personal identity codes because of privacy protection.
Why do the search results include companies with a completely different name than the one I used as search key?The search is conducted amongst the company name, the former company name, the parallel company name, the auxiliary company name, the translation of the auxiliary company name and the name of the private trader. If any of these names matches the search key, the company will be included in the search results.
Please note:
When you search by a private trader's own name, write the family name before the first name.
What does the text "specify your search" mean on the "Browsing for businesses" page?The system has found more than 200 companies whose name contains the search key you used. The word written in the "search key" field forms the search key and the system retrieves all names with that combination of characters. The search key "build", for example, retrieves all names with the word "building". You can specify your search by choosing the company form. If you know the exact name of the company, tick the box next to "Word search" and the system retrieves companies whose name contains the word as such.
Example:
You wish to see the details of Nokia Corporation and use "nokia" as search key. More than 200 company names contain the word "nokia" and the system asks you to specify your search.
You can specify your search by choosing "public limited company" as company form OR you can tick the box next to "Word search".
BIS Search did not find the company details that I need. Where do I get more information about the company?
Further details of the information services provided by the Trade Register and its co-operation partners are available on the Trade Register's website. The information services enable you to study entries made for the company in the Trade Register and documents submitted to the registration authority concerning the company. You can obtain company details by phone, by ordering copies of documents. Further details of the Trade Register's information services that are available in English.
How do I submit a notification to the Trade Register by using the start-up notification forms and the forms for notifications on amendments or termination of business available on this website?
Notifications to the Trade Register are made on notification forms jointly provided by the National Board of Patents and Registration (NBPR) and the Tax Administration. Companies can report their details at the same time both to the NBPR's Trade Register and the registers of the Tax Administration.
The notification forms in English can be found on this website under the heading "Forms and instructions". The forms can also be obtained, for example at the NBPR, the offices of the Tax Administration, ELY Centres and Local Register Offices. All forms are available in Finnish and Swedish. Some of them, forms Y1, Y3, Y4 and Y6, have also been translated into English.
The Trade Register's appendix forms must often be used when submitting notifications to the Trade Register. At the moment, the appendix forms are only available in Finnish and Swedish and can be found in these languages under the heading of "Y-Lomakkeet" and "Blanketter och ifyllningsanvisningar". Please note that you do not have to use appendix forms if you do not have anything to report on them. Instead, you only use the BIS form carrying the Business Information System logo. Please remember that appendix forms can never be used alone without such BIS forms.
Fill in one copy of the notification form. On the form, you report which details you wish to have registered or removed from the register. Enclosures, if any, must be submitted in one copy. Further information on the documents that must be enclosed is available on the Trade Register's web pages.
You can submit the forms
1) by mail to: NBPR-Tax Administration, Business Information System, P.O. Box 2000, FI-00231 Helsinki, or
2) by bringing them to the NBPR, the offices of the Tax Administration, the ELY Centres or Local Register Offices.
Please remember that the notifications to the Trade Register are subject to a fee, except for some particular cases. The amount of the handling fee depends on the type of notification and the fee must be paid in advance. The price list and bank account details are provided on the Trade Register's web pages.
Why are the changes that I have reported to the Register of Associations not displayed in BIS Search?
Amendments reported to the Register of Associations are not transferred to the Business Information System (BIS) and its information service, because the Register of Associations is not part of the BIS. Associations have to separately report to the authorities, for example to the Tax Administration, changes in details, such as new address and contact details and changes in the name of the association, by using the BIS forms.
How much is the handling fee for notifications submitted to the Trade Register and the Tax Administration?
The notifications to the Trade Register are subject to a fee, except for some particular cases. The amount of the handling fee depends on the type of notification and the fee must be paid in advance. The price list and bank account details are provided on the Trade Register's web pages.
No fee is payable for notifications submitted to the Tax Administration.
The main line of business that BIS Search information service provides for my company does not correspond with the line of business of my company. How can I change the main line of business displayed in BIS Search? The BIS Search receives the details of the main line of business from the Tax Administration. The main line of business is based on the Standard Industrial Classification published by Statistics Finland. For further details, please visit the website of Statistics Finland at http://tilastokeskus.fi/tk/tt/luokitukset/lk_en/toimiala_index.html. The wording of the main line of business displayed in BIS Search in accordance with the Standard Industrial Classification is therefore not necessarily exactly the same as the line of business which the company has reported on the BIS forms or which has been registered at the Trade Register. If the main line of business of your company is indicated incorrectly or if you find a code (or a text) in the Standard Industrial Classification that better describes the line of business of your company, please contact the local tax office in the municipality where your business is managed (for example by phone) or report the correct main line of business by mail by using the BIS forms.
