Is the income register causing you a headache? Read our expert tips.

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• Income security

The income register is a handy tool, but it can also sometimes present challenges for daily allowance claimants. Janica Nieminen, service developer at the YTK, gives tips on the most common situations where using the register can be confusing

We regularly receive feedback from our customers that the Income Register is perceived as complicated to use when applying for daily allowance. Janica Nieminen, what is the most common source of confusion when using the Income Register? 

“The most frequent confusion about the use of the Income Register, based on our feedback, is a part-time worker applying for an adjusted daily allowance with a follow-up application.
When such an applicant clicks on the ‘retrieve income register information’ button in OmaYTK, it is not always the salary information for the jobs in the application period that appears, but the salary information for the jobs in the previous application that were paid during the application period. This often causes confusion and a feeling of having clicked on something wrong.”

However, there is no need to worry.  

“This is what should happen. The Income Register is used to retrieve the pay dates that coincide with the application period, and as part-time workers are often paid afterwards, the information retrieved relates to the previous month’s pay,” says Janica Nieminen.   

As a rule, the mediation of daily allowance is done on a pay-as-you-go basis, i.e. the mediation takes place in the month in which the salary is paid.  

“However, it is important that the hours worked are filled in for the right days, as the monitoring of the employment condition is completed according to when the work was done. When paid hours are recorded for the right month, the working time condition is completed correctly. This is important for determining the daily allowance.

When the new daily allowance calculation is based on the correct days, the amount of the daily allowance will be calculated correctly. The deductible period will also be correctly determined when the hours worked are correctly reported.”  

It is also often thought that the register of earnings shows all possible wage data.  

“Holiday pay does not usually appear in the register as a breakdown, but is included in the time pay. Hourly wages and monthly wages are also reported as time wages. In addition to this, the number of so-called “pekkas days”, i.e. days off for reduced working hours, is information that is not shown in the Income Register, although it does affect the processing of the application,” says Janica Nieminen.    

Everyone can check their own Income Register data by logging on to Tulorekisteri.fi and checking their own information. Usually, the register will show time pay, holiday pay and holiday allowances.

“We don’t see our clients’ pay slips in the Income Register, but the income data declared by the employer, which is less accurate. Nor do we see anyone’s daily hours worked in the register.”  

Some respondents also have the impression that the Income Register is maintained by the YTK or that the Unemployment Fund is able to correct incorrect information in the Income Register. 

“Neither the YTK nor any other unemployment fund administers the register of income. The Income Register is a service of the Tax Administration, whose data is provided by employers. If information is missing or incorrect in the register, the claimant should always contact the employer so that the errors can be corrected. Unfortunately, we do not have the possibility to correct the data in the Income Register,” says Janica Nieminen.  

Many people also worry about sending in an application when they cannot find all the information in the Income Register. 

“It is always a good idea to send us your application on time. You can write in the additional information in the application if you think something is missing. Our processor will then be able to take it into account. Missing all the salary data does not mean that the application cannot be sent,” says Janica Nieminen.