Bills and receipts in social assistance

You can get social assistance (toimeentulotuki) for acceptable expenses if you send us a copy of your bill or receipt. Send the copies as supporting documents with your application.

However, you do not need to send us copies of bills or receipts for expenses that are included in the basic amount (perusosa) of the social assistance. Check what expenses the basic amount covers.

What bills can we pay as part of your social assistance?

A bill is a piece of paper or an electronic document that tells you how much money you have to pay for a service or product. Bills that Kela can pay as part of your social assistance (toimeentulotuki) include electricity bills, home insurance bills and bills from a public healthcare provider. Read more about what expenses we can pay on your behalf.

You do not need to send us copies of bills for expenses that are part of the basic amount (perusosa) of social assistance. For example, phone bills and newspaper subscriptions are part of the basic amount.

When you submit your application, send us copies of all bills that have a due date during the period for which you apply for social assistance. By due date, we mean the due date of the original bill, not the due date of a payment reminder. Kela cannot grant you social assistance for collection fees or late charges.

When Kela calculates how much social assistance you can get, we take the bills you send us into account for the month in which their original due date is.

What receipts can we take into account in social assistance?

A receipt is a piece of paper or an electronic document that proves you have paid a sum of money. You will usually get a receipt from the seller after you have paid for a service or product.

Receipts that Kela can take into account when calculating your social assistance (toimeentulotuki) include receipts for prescription medicines you have bought at a pharmacy or the receipt you got when you paid for a new identity card. The receipt must show what you bought, who sold it to you, and how much money you paid and when you paid it. Read more about what expenses we can cover if you send us copies of your receipts.

You do not need to send us copies of receipts for expenses that are part of the basic amount (perusosa) of social assistance, such as food you have bought.

We will usually pay social assistance to your bank account

Kela will usually pay your social assistance (toimeentulotuki) to your own bank account. You have to use the money you get from Kela to pay your bills yourself.

If you want to, we can also pay your bills directly, for example, to your electricity or insurance company. If we pay a bill directly on your behalf, it will be deducted from the amount of social assistance we will pay to your bank account. We will pay the bill only if the amount of social assistance granted to you is enough to cover the bill in full. Always check the decision notice or notice of payment you get to make sure that all the bills you have asked us to pay on your behalf have been paid. 

Send copies of your bills and receipts via OmaKela

1. Take a picture of the bills or receipts or scan them. You can use your phone to take the picture. Please remember to take a picture of all pages of every bill and receipt you want to send to us. 
2. Check that the pictures are clear and that we can read what is written on them. 
3. Log in to the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish). 
4. In OmaKela, go to Lähetä liite (Send supporting document) to send pictures of your bills and receipts. 
5. Under Mihin asiaan liitteesi liittyy (What does your supporting document concern), select Perustoimeentulotuki (Basic social assistance). 
6. Under Minkä liitteen haluat lähettää (What kind of supporting document do you want to send), select Lasku (Bill) if you want to send us a copy of a bill or Muut liitteet (Other supporting documents) if you want to send us a copy of a receipt.
7. When you send us a copy of a bill, under Kenelle lasku maksetaan (Who is the bill paid to?), select either Minulle (To me) or Laskuttajalle (To the company or person that sent me the bill).

If Kela has already issued you a decision on social assistance (toimeentulotuki), you can send copies of your bills and receipts to Kela separately during the period for which Kela has granted you social assistance. The decision notice you get tells you what kinds of bills and receipts we can pay or cover. Please note that the due dates of the bills you want us to pay must be during the period for which Kela has granted you social assistance. Before you send Kela a copy of a bill, check the decision notice to see the period for which Kela has granted you social assistance.

What to do if you cannot use OmaKela 

If you cannot send copies of your bills or receipts to us via the OmaKela e-service, send them by post to Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA. Make sure you fill out and send the form called Accompanying form concerning expenses TO3e (PDF) together with them. If you cannot send in the form, write your personal identity code (henkilötunnus) and the words Lasku liittyy toimeentulotukeen (Bill for social assistance) on every bill and Kuitti liittyy toimeentulotukeen (Receipt for social assistance) on every receipt you send to us.

If you want Kela to pay your bill directly to the person or company who has sent you the bill, write Maksetaan laskuttajalle (Pay to the company or person who sent me the bill) on it.

We will not give any bills or receipts you send us back to you. Please send us a copy and keep the originals.

You can also go to a Kela service point and hand in your bills and receipts there.