Tax compliance support for platform workers - Estonia - Overview and implementation

Sep 19, 2026

Estonia’s Tax and Customs Board (ETCB) established agreements with digital platforms to let platform workers voluntarily report earnings through a digital channel. Workers’ annual income tax returns are pre-filled from these earnings declarations, allowing taxpayers to review and submit within minutes. The approach aims to raise voluntary tax morality by combining e-governance, trust-building cooperation, and supervisory mechanisms. It responds to previously high unpaid taxes and underdeclared income, with ongoing information exchange since 2015.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time2 min

AccessFree to download

Summary

Practice overview

Purpose and targets

Aims and objectives

General objective

Specific objectives

Background context

Problem addressed

Need for cooperation

Main activities

Voluntary earnings reporting

Pre-filled tax returns

Agreements and information exchange

Awareness and detection measures

Funding and resources

Outcomes and achievements

Reported results and participation

Expected impact of EU directive

Lessons learned and success factors

Role of agreements and digitalisation

Tax compliance support for platform workers Estonia | | Summary
The Estonian Tax Authority (the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, ETCB) has formed agreements with various digital platforms i (e.g. , with AirBnB) enabling platform workers to voluntarily report earnings to the tax authorities via a digital platform. ii Annual income tax returns are pre-filled based on workers’iii earnings declarations. The purpose is to increase tax compliance through a simple, clear, and user-friendly method based on cooperation. | | --- | --- | | Title of the practice in original language |
n/a | | Name(s) of authorities/bodies/ organisations involved | 􀁦 The Estonian Tax and Customs Board (ETCB) (Maksu-ja

Tolliamet) | | Sectors | All | | Target groups | 􀁦 Platform workers (directly targeted)

􀁦 Digital Platforms (indirectly targeted) | | Purpose of measure | Changing attitudes: commitment to tax morality | | | Aims and objectives | | --- | --- | | | The aim is to make Estonia the most voluntary tax compliant country | | | in Europe through e-governance, building trust and cooperation | | | between platform workers and the Tax Authority. This will be | | | achieved through providing simple and convenient public services | | | for all taxpayers and addressing problematic taxpayers effectively | | | through supervisory mechanisms. | | Background context | 􀁦 The practice was introduced against a background of a high rate of unpaid taxes and of underdeclared income by platform workers . Supervisory mechanisms and tax declaration services were time consuming and ineffective. | | | 􀁦 Cooperation between the Tax Authority and digital platforms | | --- | --- | | | was necessary to build trust and change attitudes towards | | | paying taxes. | | | 􀁦 The Tax Authority sought to support platform workers | | | across the country to automatically report their earnings at | | | the click of a button. In exchange, the Tax Authority | | | contributes to regulatory changes, iv so that digital platforms | | | can operate with greater ease and taxes are paid in a more | | | user-friendly way. | | | 􀁦 The information exchange between the tax authority and the | | | digital platforms (based on agreements) started in 2015 and | | | is ongoing. At this stage there is one written agreement (with AirBnB) while the rest are oral agreements. | | Key objectives of the measure | General Objective:
􀁦 To make Estonia the country with the highest voluntary tax compliance in Europe.
Specific Objectives:
􀁦 To increase willingness to pay taxes by building trust and cooperation between the Tax Authority and taxpayers;
􀁦 To tackle undeclared work in the digital platform industry;
􀁦 To fight unfair competition through enhancing equal tax competition and the protection of consumers. | | Main activities | The measure involved the following activities:
􀁦 The voluntary earnings declaration of the taxpayer ( platform worker) is sent to the Tax Authority by the digital platform. The Tax Authority then pre-fills individual income tax returns with the data received. Once it is time for the individual platform worker to submit an annual tax return, the individual reviews the pre-filled form, and if necessary, adjusts the relevant data accordingly. If edits are not required, then the individual can easily submit the declaration with one click the average tax return submission only takes two or three minutes;
􀁦 Agreements were developed between the digital platform and the Tax Authority to increase cooperation. There is no specific template for these agreements. However, an agreement in principle is established on how and what data will be exchanged in order to increase cooperation between | | | digital platforms and the Tax Authority and ensure increased | | --- | --- | | | reporting of income earned across the digital platforms; | | | 􀁦 Improving knowledge and understanding of the notion of | | | undeclared work in t

FAQs

How do Estonian digital platforms help platform workers with tax reporting?

Digital platforms send platform workers’ voluntary earnings declarations to the Tax Authority. The Tax Authority then pre-fills the workers’ individual annual income tax returns using the received data.

What is the main objective of the tax compliance support practice?

The practice aims to make Estonia the most voluntary tax compliant country in Europe through e-governance, trust-building, and cooperation between platform workers and the Tax Authority.

What outcomes and achievements have been reported so far?

For 2020-21, 97% of tax returns were recorded through e-filling. As of the document’s reporting point, 5,959 tax returns were submitted online and 683 individuals had voluntarily e-reported their earnings.

Sep 19, 2026

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