How does FIFO decide your Finnish capital gains when you sell part of a holding?

When you sell part of a holding in Finland, FIFO decides which shares count as sold. First in, first out means the earliest lots you bought are treated as the ones you sell first. Those lots set the cost basis for the sale, which sets your taxable gain. You cannot pick a later, more expensive lot to reduce your gain.

Why the order matters

The cost basis is the purchase price of the shares that are considered sold. Because FIFO always consumes your oldest lots first, the gain depends on when you bought, not on which shares you meant to sell.

Suppose you bought 100 shares in 2019 and another 100 in 2024, then sold 100. FIFO treats the 2019 lot as sold. Its purchase price becomes the cost basis, and the gain is the sale price minus that older, usually cheaper, basis. If a sale spans more than one lot, HomeCFO consumes them in order and adds up the parts.

FIFO is only the first step. After it sets the actual cost basis, HomeCFO compares that gain with the deemed acquisition cost and uses whichever leaves the lower taxable gain. The result is taxed as capital income, at 30 percent up to 30,000 euros of capital income per year and 34 percent above that. Your dividends and other capital income count toward the same 30,000 euro band.

Because tax is per individual, the 30,000 euro threshold and the loss carry-forward pool are each person’s own, and HomeCFO scopes the cost basis to the account owner rather than the household.

Frequently asked questions

Can I choose which shares to sell for tax purposes?

No. Finland uses FIFO as the default cost basis method, so the earliest lots you bought are the ones treated as sold first. You cannot single out a later, more expensive lot to reduce the gain. HomeCFO applies FIFO automatically across the buy history it reconstructs for each security.

Does FIFO apply per person or per household?

Per person, not per household. Finnish capital gains tax is individual, so HomeCFO scopes the cost basis and the tax summary to the account owner, not the household. Each person has their own 30,000 euro rate threshold and their own loss carry-forward pool. FIFO reconstructs the buy history within each brokerage account.

What happens after FIFO sets the cost basis?

HomeCFO compares the FIFO gain with the deemed acquisition cost, which is 20 percent of the sale price under 10 years of holding or 40 percent at 10 years or more. The method that produces the lower taxable gain is the one that applies to that sale.

See it on your own trades in HomeCFO.