Income tax is divided into income tax on natural persons and income tax on enterprises (income tax on a legal person is also paid for permanent employment of non-residents and all employers providing unique benefits). In addition to paying the income tax on the enterprise, you are also obliged to withhold the employee’s payments and pay the income tax to the Tax and Customs Department as an employer.
Income of legal persons
The peculiarity of the income tax on enterprises in Estonia is that only distributed profits are taxed. If the profit is reinvested in the enterprise, it is tax-free. You must pay income tax on distributed profits, off-business income and benefits, on gifts, donations, admissions and special benefits provided to the employee. In addition, income tax is also levied on reducing an enterprise’s capital, purchasing shares or shares, and the payment of a liquidation dividend over monetary and non-monetary contributions to the enterprise’s capital.
Rates
- The income tax rate for private person earnings— 20%.
- The income tax rate of a legal entity applied to dividends of profits is 20/80. The income tax rate of a legal entity, which is applied to a regularly distributed profit dividend, is 14/86, and income tax is withheld at a rate of 7 per cent in addition to dividends paid to an individual.
- The amount of income tax-free depends on the income received (up to EUR 500 per month and up to EUR 6,000 per year).
If payment is made in one month:
- up to 1,200 euros, then tax-free income is 500 euros
- between 1,200 euros and 2,100 euros, then tax-free income is applied in the amount calculated according to the formula 500 – 500 – 900 (1,200)
- over 2100 euros, then the tax-free income is zero.
Individual entrepreneurs
If you conduct business as an individual entrepreneur, you must pay income tax on income from business activities, from which business expenses are deducted. The income tax rate for individual entrepreneurs is 20 per cent. The tax period is a calendar year; as an individual entrepreneur, you must declare income once a year. The tax return must be filed by 30 April of the year following the tax period.
If you have received taxable income for the previous period, you must pay the advance income tax by 15 September and 15 December. The advance payment is 25 per cent of the income tax calculated on business income in the previous tax period.
Income of employees
Personal income is also taxed. The person making the payments must withhold and pay income tax on the employees’ gross salary, additional fees, bonuses, holidays, and other benefits that are considered to be waged.
The personal income tax rate for 2021 is 20 per cent. A single, non-taxable income of €6,000 per year or €500 per month is applied to all earnings. The additional non-taxable income from pensions and compensation for industrial accidents is lost.
If the employee has submitted to the person making the payment (employer) a declaration of the application of the tax-exempt income, you may deduct the permissible tax-free income for the calendar month before calculating the withholding income tax.
In addition to the income tax, it is necessary to deduct from the income of the employee the payments for compulsory cumulative pension and payments for unemployment insurance. It is also necessary to pay a social tax on the gross salary of the employee.
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