Most of the tax returns have been submitted via the e-services environment e-MTA. Only 2% of all returns were filed on paper.
According to Madis Laas, head of the ETCB’s Income Tax Department, a large portion of the overpaid income tax has already been refunded to taxpayers. “More than €198 million in overpaid income tax is to be refunded to more than 553 000 people. We have already managed to refund close to €178 million of that. As of now, nearly 73 900 people will need to pay an additional approximately €74 million by 1 October,” Laas noted.
The most convenient way to declare income is via the e-services environment e-MTA. Due to widespread scam messages, the ETCB recommends signing in to the e-services environment only through the ETCB’s official website emta.ee by selecting “E-services”.
Much of the information is prefilled on tax returns. It is important to review the prefilled data, correct it if necessary, and add information such as the acquisition cost of investments or real estate sold.
“If there are omissions or inaccuracies in the prefilled data, we ask taxpayers to delete the relevant line themselves – for instance, if the sale of a tax-exempt primary residence has been entered on the tax return. If, for example, rental income, income earned through a platform, or income earned abroad is missing from the tax return, individuals must enter this information themselves,” added Madis Laas.
Declaring income earned from investments and crypto-assets requires a bit more time and attention than declaring other types of income. Instructions for declaring gains from securities and investment accounts can be found on the ETCB website and in the video tutorial. Guidelines for declaring income earned from trading crypto-assets are also available on the ETCB website and in the video tutorial.
As before, training expenses listed on the ETCB website, as well as gifts and donations in the amount of up to €1,200 can be deducted from income. Contributions to the supplementary funded pension, i.e. the third pension pillar, can also be deducted from taxable income to the extent of up to 15% of taxable income, but not more than €6,000 per year. If the data on training expenses is not prefilled on the tax return or differs from information available to you, it is worth contacting the educational institution and asking for the data to be corrected and submitted to the ETCB.
The Tax and Customs Board asks taxpayers to file their tax returns if, in the past year, they:
• received remuneration or service fees from a platform from which income tax has not been withheld;
• received less basic exemption than permitted, or more;
• made securities transactions or received income from financial assets (including crypto-assets);
• used investment accounts;
• received income from employment or other income (e.g. interest, dividends) abroad;
• sold real estate or received rental income from which income tax has not been withheld;
• sold timber or cutting rights;
• were self-employed;
• paid training expenses and made contributions to supplementary funded pension (III pillar).
Individuals whose income tax has been accurately withheld are not required to file the tax return. Furthermore, persons whose income does not exceed the basic exemption of €7,848 per year, or €9,312 per year in the case of persons of pensionable age, are not required to file the income tax return.
More information about the 2025 income tax return is available on the ETCB website.
