The Treasury minister Annika Saarikko (Cen) has suggested that the current coalition government could agree to reduce Finland’s income tax.
The Minister’s comments followed an event organized by the Finnish Central Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday morning, in which a proposal was made that income tax should be reduced by two percentage points everywhere during the next government term.
However, Saarikko replied that implementing such a reduction does not necessarily mean waiting for a change of government.
"Personally, I believe that this government still has the opportunity to take a decision," he told Yle. "I think that even during the term of this government, tax cuts on wage income could be agreed."
The budget for 2022 has already been agreed
Saarikko commented on the matter a couple of weeks after the governments had already reached an agreement on next year’s budget.
"Traditionally, tax decisions have always been made during the autumn budget debate. How it happens should be carefully evaluated [a decision] would affect other matters," he said, adding that the issue needs to be seen in a broader context, how the Finnish economy is recovering from the Covid crisis.
"It is even more important to look at the broader question of how economic growth becomes sustainable. Taxation is one way of doing this, strengthening growth and employment," the minister said.
All decisions on income tax cuts made in next year’s budget negotiations will take effect in 2023 at the earliest.
The Minister of Education rejects the proposal
Minister of Education and leader of the Center Party Alliance, Left Alliance, Li Andersson, seemed to reject a proposal for tax cuts during the current government ‘s term through a series of tweets shortly after Yle reported on Saarikko’ s comments.
"Working life suffers from a serious shortage of experts," Andersson wrote. "In terms of funding for science, the cuts of 2023 remain unresolved and vocational training requires sustained additional investment. Instead, the finance minister wants to prioritize tax cuts in the recovery."
"He [Saarikko] correctly anticipates that there will be no unanimity in the government," Andersson added.
Source: The Nordic Page
