Snow Removal in Finland — Snowfall at Night, Clear Path by 8 AM

What snow removal costs

45 €/hour for one worker, 90 €/hour for two. Minimum booking is two hours. Prices include VAT, with no evening or weekend surcharge.

You are billed for the time actually worked. If the job finishes faster than estimated, you pay less — we do not round up.

Kotitalousvähennys reduces your bill

Snow removal on your own property qualifies for the Finnish household tax credit, kotitalousvähennys. PalveMax Oy is listed in the prepayment register (ennakkoperintärekisteri), so the labour portion is deductible.

For the 2026 tax year the credit is 35 % of the labour cost, up to 1 600 euros per person, with an annual own-liability of 150 euros deducted first.

• The credit covers labour only — not grit material and not travel fees
• You claim it yourself in OmaVero; it is not applied automatically
• Spouses claim separately, up to 3 200 euros combined
• It is granted for the year in which the invoice was paid

A rise in the credit has been proposed

On 11 June 2026 the government submitted a bill to parliament raising the maximum credit to 2 100 euros and the rate for work bought from a company from 35 % to 40 %. The rise would be temporary, covering 2026–2027, and would apply retroactively from 1 January 2026.

As of July 2026 the bill had not yet passed. If it becomes law in early autumn, the higher credit can be claimed on payments already made this year. Check the current status on vero.fi.

Who is legally responsible for snow removal

The property owner or holder is responsible for maintaining their own plot: the yard, driveway, entrances, steps and roof. This is a legal duty, not a recommendation.

For pavements, responsibility varies by municipality. Many municipalities have taken over winter maintenance of pavements; in others it still rests with the property. Check your own municipality's decision.

If someone slips and is injured on an uncleared area, liability falls on the property owner. In practice this is the main reason to clear snow on time rather than when you get around to it.

• Renting: check your lease — snow removal is often the landlord's duty
• Housing company shareholder: the duty lies with the company, not you personally
• Detached house: the duty is entirely yours

For housing companies: a contract for the season

We work directly with housing companies (taloyhtiö) and property managers. The contract covers the yard, driveways, entrances, walkways and parking areas to an agreed extent.

The benefit is not only price. After heavy snowfall everyone calls at once, and one-off jobs simply cannot all be fitted in. Contract customers are cleared first — we do not wait for a call, we follow the forecast and come on our own.

• Fixed monthly fee or billing by actual time — agreed in advance
• Clearing before 8 am so residents can get to work
• Gritting on the same visit
• Reporting of completed visits to the property manager
• Snow moved within the plot; removal off-site by separate agreement

Roof snow: what we do and what we don't

We clear snow from the flat roofs of low buildings: garages, terrace canopies, storage buildings, extensions and single-storey houses.

We do not take on pitched roofs or apartment blocks. That is rope access work requiring separate safety training and equipment. If your property is one of those, we will say so directly and point you to the kind of company to look for — safety is not a place to cut corners.

• Flat roofs on single-storey buildings only
• Garages, canopies, terraces, outbuildings
• Removing snow load before it turns to ice
• Not offered: pitched roofs, apartment blocks, knocking ice from height

When we arrive after snowfall

For contract customers we set out as soon as the snowfall stops, without a separate request. The morning shift is arranged so that entrances and driveways are open before eight.

One-off jobs are taken as capacity allows. After heavy snowfall the queue can be long — that is an honest answer, not a sales line. This is why we recommend a contract to anyone for whom timing matters.