Lapland warmly welcomes entrepreneurs, business-owners and investors from abroad. Locating in Finland and starting a business is a smooth sail. Foreign-owned companies have access to a wide range of government and EU incentives on an equal footing with Finnish-owned companies. This site collects some useful information and weblinks to help with getting started.
Setting up a business
Starting a business in Finland is not difficult, and opening a legal entity takes only a couple of weeks. Enterprise Finland provides concrete information on needed permissions, launching business operations and being and employer in Finland.
Business development aids
Business development aid can be granted to SMEs to fund the company’s development project including product and service development, internationalization and investments. The aim can also be to improve export and internationalization opportunities or to seek growth by developing new products, services or production methods.
Examples of possible eligible costs are the purchase of expert services and investments in land, buildings, machinery and equipment. Expenditure on salaries, consultancy, travel and similar activities related to development project may be supported up to a maximum of 50%, and investment costs up to a maximum of 35% of the cost.
Lapland belongs to the support area for sparsely populated areas, and small and medium-sized companies in Lapland will benefit from this in the allocation of funds. Business development aids are coordinated by the Centres of the Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY Centres).
Innovation funding
Business Finland’s R&D funding aims to enable the development of products or services, production methods, and business model, or to test a new innovative solution.
Tax incentives
In Finland, the corporate tax rate for company profits is 20% which is the lowest in the Nordic countries, and recently the industrial electricity tax was lowered to the EU minimum level. In addition to these, there are some new tax incentives for companies operating in Finland, such as:
– deduction 150% for research and development projects 2021-2025
– accelerated depreciation on machinery and equipment for tax years 2020-2023
Read more about taxes and tax incentives:
Local business advisory in Lapland
Business advisors in the development agencies and municipalities in Lapland can help with the issues related to relocating or starting a business in Lapland. You can find the contact details from the downloadable material.