Amount and payment of partial care allowance

Partial care allowance is only paid for one child at a time even if there are several children eligible for the benefit in the family.

• The amount of partial care allowance is €98.21 per month.

Care allowance can be paid starting from 1 August in the year when the child starts school. You can receive partial care allowance until the child's second year of school ends (31 July). If the child is enrolled in extended compulsory education, that is, attends school for more years than is usually the case, Kela can pay partial care allowance already in preschool until the child's third year in primary education ends.

Each year, Kela adjusts the partial care allowance with the index, which may change the amount of allowance. The customer need not do anything because of the index adjustment, but the amount is adjusted automatically.

Payment

The allowance is paid in arrears on the last business day of the month. The decision shows the first payment date of the allowance. The decision is mailed to your home address and can also be checked online.

Partial care allowance is not paid for a shorter period than one month. The allowance period does not have to start from the beginning of the month.

If partial care allowance and other child care allowances have been awarded for a total of at least one month, the partial care allowance may also be awarded for a shorter period than one month, however.

Taxation

The partial care allowance is taxable income. When you receive wages or other taxable income in addition to the allowance, your allowance will be taxed according to the additional rate. If the withholding rates for additional income and secondary income differ from each other and you want Kela to use the withholding rate for secondary income, please submit your tax card for secondary income to Kela.

If you have a tax card with three distinct withholding rates ('portaikkoverokortti' in Finnish, 'graderat skattekort' in Swedish), and you are paid partial care allowance, your allowance will be taxed at a withholding rate of 40%. You can also ask the tax authorities to send a revised tax card for social security benefits to Kela.