So far, nearly half a million people have filed their income tax return. According to Aune Maria Marjapuu, leading specialist at the ETCB’s Income Tax Department, investors have not rushed to submit their income tax returns. "This is also reasonable, as checking the pre-filled data and adding the necessary data will inevitably require time and focus. It is important that everything necessary is correctly entered in the tax return the first time and that no mistakes are made in the data," said Marjapuu.
The ETCB points out that everyday expenses and investments must be kept separate. It is important to consider which financial assets you want to invest in and which account is suitable as your investment account.
Whether an account opened with a bank, payment institution, e-money institution or investment firm is suitable as an investment account can be checked in the registers listed on the website of the ETCB. There are references to the register of market participants of the Financial Supervision Authority, the register of the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the register of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). Enter only the keyword in the register and select ‘Search’; no other data is required.
Users of the investment account system must declare their contributions and withdrawals each year, but the payment of income tax can be postponed. The investment accounts of underage children must also be declared annually – only this way can the related tax liability be deferred.
"From four banks – AS LHV Pank, AS SEB Pank, Luminor Bank AS, Swedbank AS – and investment firm Lightyear Europe AS, it is possible to send the investment account report directly to the e-MTA. This makes it easy and convenient to declare the investment data. However, the data of an account opened in a foreign country must be entered in the income tax return manually,” said Marjapuu.
Investors’ transactions on the Nasdaq Baltic Stock Exchange through the ordinary system are pre-filled in the income tax return. The acquisition cost and the costs related to the transfer must be added to the income tax return. Income tax is payable on income earned through the ordinary system.
The pre-filling of Baltic Stock Exchange transactions is now easier than before. "Namely, if a transaction has been made from a bank account with the same IBAN that has been declared as an investment account in the first part of Table 6.5 of the income tax return, then such a transaction is not declared in Tables 6.1 or 8.2. This means that you do not have to delete the pre-filled data yourself,” explained Marjapuu.
If losses were incurred from securities transactions, the ETCB still recommends filing the tax return. In this case, the losses incurred will be recorded and taken into account in subsequent years.
Pension investment accounts, or pension pillar II, are not declared in the income tax return. Withdrawals from these accounts are taxed according to the rules of the second pension pillar.
The investor community in Estonia has grown rapidly in recent years. For example, while just under 20,000 people declared investment accounts in 2021, more than 70,000 people declared them in 2025. One person may have several investment accounts. It should be noted that income tax is calculated based on the date and time of transactions across all accounts.
In January this year, the ETCB contacted more than 350 people who had previously failed to declare the sale of securities traded on the Nasdaq Baltic Stock Exchange. As a result, more than 160 investment accounts and nearly €900,000 in gains from the sale of financial assets were declared additionally, increasing the tax liability by nearly €178,000.
How to enter investment account data in the tax return?
- Before submitting the tax return, send the investment account report from your online bank to the Tax and Customs Board. This will automatically display the investment account data in Table 6.5 of the tax return.
- If you send your investment account report from the online bank after you have already started filling out the tax return, proceed as follows to transfer the data to the tax return:
- open Table 6.5 “Investment account”;
- click on the "Data of the ETCB" button in parts I and II of the table and then on the "Replace data" button.
- Investment account data can also be entered manually in Table 6.5. To add data, click on the "New line" button.
When you start investing, i.e. immediately upon purchasing financial assets, you must choose between the ordinary system and the investment account system and continue using that system until the financial assets are sold. For example, financial assets purchased in the ordinary system may not be transferred to an investment account, as the rules of the investment account stipulate that financial assets must be purchased with money in the investment account.
Investors must also distinguish between investment accounts and financial assets permitted in investment accounts. “An account held with a crowdfunding service or crypto asset service provider (a so-called crowdfunding or crypto asset platform) is not suitable as an investment account. However, loans granted through a crowdfunding service provider licensed in a Contracting State, shares purchased, as well as crypto assets purchased through a crypto asset service provider or from a crypto asset issuer are suitable as financial assets," said Marjapuu.
More information about investing in securities through the ordinary system, investment account system, or pension investment account is available on the ETCB website.
Income earned in 2025 can be declared until April 30. More information about filing the income tax return is available on the ETCB website.
