Get your Kela-related matters in order in time before Christmas - the holidays affect the payment of benefits

The turn of the year and the first few weeks of the year are often very busy at Kela. It is thus a good idea to get your Kela-related matters in order before Christmas since during the holidays Kela’s customer service points and telephone service are closed. On New Year’s Eve, regular customer service will be available until 13.00, while service for customers with an urgent need of social assistance will be available until 16.00. Because of Christmas, the dates for filing unemployment status reports are earlier than usual and unemployment benefits are also paid earlier than usual. The social assistance for December will be paid into your bank account before Christmas, if the application and the necessary documentation have reached Kela at the latest by 10 December 2024.

You can conduct most of your Kela business in the OmaKela e-service: apply for benefits, send documentation and notify Kela of changes. In the OmaKela e-service, you can also check the status of your application and payment dates for the benefits.

Customer service opening hours during Christmas and New Year

Kela’s telephone service and customer service points are closed during Christmas (24-26 December), on New Year’s Day (1 January) and at Epiphany (6 January).

On New Year’s Eve (31 December) Kela’s telephone service is open 9.00 to 13.00 and service for customers with an urgent need of social assistance is available until 16.00. You can look up Kela’s customer service numbers at www.kela.fi/call-kela.

The customer service points open on New Year’s Eve will close at 13.00 at the latest, but some of them will provide service to customers in need of urgent social assistance until 16.00. The following customer service points will provide service to customers in need of urgent social assistance:

Helsinki, Kamppi
Hämeenlinna
Joensuu
Jyväskylä         
Kajaani
Kokkola
Kotka
Kuopio              
Lahti 
Lappeenranta
Oulu
Pori
Rovaniemi       
Seinäjoki          
Tampere
Turku                
Vaasa

Check the opening hours and visiting addresses of all customer service points at www.kela.fi/visit-kela.

Report your days of unemployment in time

Because of Christmas, unemployment status reports are filed and unemployment benefits paid earlier than usual. In OmaKela and on the form you received you can check the date when you can file your unemployment status report.

If the period of the unemployment status report ends 19–23 December 2024,

• the report can be submitted on 19 December 2024
• the payments are deposited into the account on 23 December 2024 at the earliest.

If the period of the unemployment status report ends on 24 December 2024,

• the report can be submitted on 20 December 2024
• the payments are deposited into the account on 27 December 2024 at the earliest.

If the period of the unemployment status report ends on 25 December 2024,

• the report can be submitted on 23 December 2024
• the payments are deposited into the account on 30 December 2024 at the earliest.

It is a good idea to file the unemployment status report in the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish) already in the morning, so that the report can be processed as soon as possible.

Apply for social assistance in time

The last payment date for social assistance before Christmas is 23 December 2024. Customers will have their social assistance payment deposited into their account by then, if their application and other required documents arrive at Kela by 10 December 2024.

If you need social assistance urgently, you can contact a Kela customer service point or call 020 634 2550. This could be, for example, because you have an urgent need for a voucher to buy food or medicines.

If you have an urgent need of social assistance outside Kela’s opening hours, the social services of the wellbeing services county may provide preventive social assistance at their discretion. In urgent crises during the Christmas holidays, you can contact the emergency social services of the wellbeing services county.

Changes to the benefits and the validity of the tax card in 2025

Next year will see several changes to Kela benefits, affecting both benefit rates and eligibility criteria. Some changes have already been approved by Parliament, but some legislative changes still await processing by Parliament. At www.kela.fi/changes you find information on the changes to the benefits that have already been approved or are being planned.

Please also note that starting in 2025, the tax card will take effect right from the start of January. In the past, tax cards for the new year were valid from February. Kela gets the tax withholding information for 2025 automatically from the Finnish Tax Administration, which means that you do not need to send your new tax card to Kela. If you wish to change your preliminary tax withholding rate, you can order a new tax card in the OmaVero e-service.

We wish our customers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2025!

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Manage your Kela matters online through the OmaKela e-service
Call the telephone customer service