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A payroll return without an evening of figures: what the new TSD changes for small business owners

Published · Prepared with AI

Nearly 41 000 Estonian businesses have already submitted the TSD payroll return in its new format, and they did so before the filing deadline. The familiar evening spent by a business owner or bookkeeper copying figures from the software into the return line by line is no longer a given: according to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, one in five new TSD returns was sent straight from accounting software in a few clicks. The short answer for small business owners and anyone who runs their own payroll: if your accounting software can submit the TSD itself, there is no longer any need to transfer figures by hand, and it is worth checking whether this feature is switched on for you.

What has changed in the TSD return?

The format itself. For the first time, salary payments are being declared in the new data-based TSD. By 6 November 2026, according to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, nearly 41 000 businesses had submitted this return, and the filing deadline had not yet arrived.

For a company with a couple of employees, a new format sounds like yet another change to get used to. But the same data contains a more important figure: how these returns were actually sent.

How many returns went straight from accounting software?

One in five, or 20%. Nobody retyped these returns by hand: they were sent from accounting software in a few clicks. And almost three times as many companies did this as had used the earlier automated filing methods, according to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board.

So the main takeaway from these figures is a practical one. If payroll is already calculated in your accounting software, the figures for the TSD are already there. Software that can submit the return passes them on by itself, and copying lines from one window to another drops out of your month.

But these 20% have a flip side: four returns out of five went by other routes. That means most businesses are still filing the old way, and some may simply not have the right feature switched on.

How can you check whether your accounting software can submit the TSD itself?

It takes one quiet evening or a single email to support:

  • Open the software settings and look for a section on data exchange with the Estonian Tax and Customs Board or on submitting returns. If the TSD is listed there, the software has the feature.
  • Check whether it is enabled for your company. If the software asks you to confirm or connect something, the steps are described in its help pages.
  • Can't find it? Send support one question: “Can the software submit the new TSD itself, and what do we need to do to switch this on?”
  • If a bookkeeper runs your payroll, ask them the same question. Even the answer “it can, but we don't do it that way” is useful: it means the switch is open for discussion.
  • Before the first submission from the software, compare the return with the one you last filed by hand: that way you can see at once whether the software has picked everything up correctly.

Growing your business: what does EIS fund in 2026?

Once routine work like the TSD moves into the software, you free up time for a bigger question: where to grow next. For plans of this kind, EIS, Estonia's state business development agency, offers support for large development projects. As EIS puts it, introducing digital and AI solutions plays an important role in these projects, and a project can also include new working processes, quality management and entry into a new target market.

In total, 3 million euros has been allocated to this support in 2026. To be clear from the outset: it is designed for large development projects and is unlikely to suit a micro-business. A two-person company that wants to stop filing its TSD by hand will not need the fund's money: a software setting solves that.

The support is, however, worth a look for businesses that have already outgrown manual bookkeeping and are planning a serious overhaul: new processes, AI in daily work, a new market. Such companies should read the full conditions on the EIS website and consider whether their plan is substantial enough to count as a large project.

Where a few clicks won't help, and what to do then

Automated filing has three weak spots, and each one has a solution.

  • Your software cannot submit the TSD yet. What to do: file the return as before and ask support whether the feature is on its way. Filing by hand remains a perfectly workable route.
  • An error in the books. The software will send exactly what has been entered, and a wrong amount will go out just as quickly as a correct one. What to do: before you click, check the total against the payroll sheet - that short check stays with you.
  • You want to grow, but the project is still small. EIS support is designed for large projects, and it is too early for a small company. What to do: start with what is within reach now - take manual tasks such as transferring figures into the TSD off your plate - and come back to a large project once your plan has grown.

What does this mean for your company?

One in five new TSD returns is already sent from accounting software, and with the feature switched on, there is no longer any need to transfer figures by hand. One step for this week: open your accounting software settings or write to your bookkeeper and find out whether it submits the TSD itself.

If the question goes beyond a single return and concerns how to rework bookkeeping and working processes in your company, discuss it with MOST's practitioners.

Sources

Questions and answers

What has changed in the TSD return?
For the first time, salary payments are declared in a new data-based format. If your payroll is calculated in accounting software, you can submit the return straight from there, without transferring figures by hand.
How many businesses have already filed the new TSD?
Nearly 41 000 by 6 November 2026, all of them before the filing deadline. These figures come from the Estonian Tax and Customs Board.
Can the TSD be submitted straight from accounting software?
Yes, if the software supports it. One in five new returns was sent this way, in a few clicks. Look in the software settings or ask support whether the feature is switched on for you.
If the software submits the TSD itself, do I still need to check anything?
Yes, it is worth checking the total before submitting. The software will pass on exactly what has been entered, so it is better to catch any bookkeeping error before you click.
Will EIS give a small company money to automate its bookkeeping?
Most likely this support will not suit you: it is designed for large development projects where digital and AI solutions, new working processes or entry into a new market matter. In total, 3 million euros has been allocated to it in 2026. Automated TSD filing is solved by setting up your accounting software.

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