- VAT rate of candies in Finland expected to be increased from 14 % to new general rate of 25,5 % on 1 June 2025
- For goods and services in 10 % VAT rate for everything else except for magazines and journals, increase to 14 % as of 1 January 2025.
Source vm.fi
The provided PDF appears to be a presentation by Riikka Purra, the Finnish Minister of Finance, detailing the Ministry of Finance’s proposal for the 2025 budget. Here is a summary of the key points:
- Economic Recovery:
- The Finnish economy has shown signs of slight growth in early 2024 and is expected to strengthen towards the end of the year.
- Economic growth is anticipated to accelerate in 2025, despite measures to reduce the public deficit potentially dampening demand.
- Global economic outlook remains stable, with growth expected to pick up in key export markets in Europe.
- Finland’s cost competitiveness supports exports as market demand recovers.
- Private consumption is expected to grow due to slowing inflation, falling interest rates, and rising incomes.
- Investments are set to increase, particularly in construction recovery and energy transition and security-related projects.
- Employment is expected to improve in 2025 after a decline in 2024.
- Government’s Economic Policy Goals:
- Focus on economic stability, employment, growth, and securing welfare services.
- Aim to stabilize the public debt ratio by 2027.
- Implement savings of 4 billion euros and structural measures to strengthen public finances by 2 billion euros, particularly through employment growth.
- Additional measures worth approximately 3 billion euros were decided in spring 2024.
- Budget Overview for 2025:
- Revenues: 76.0 billion euros (1.0 billion euros less than spring estimates due to weaker tax revenue forecasts and early tobacco tax increase).
- Expenditures: 88.1 billion euros (0.5 billion euros more than spring estimates due to automatic factors like increased interest expenses).
- Deficit: 12.2 billion euros (1.5 billion euros worse than spring estimates).
- Savings and Tax Adjustments:
- Nearly 2 billion euros in state expenditure savings compared to 2024.
- Tax adjustments to increase state tax revenues by 1.2 billion euros.
- Few discretionary new spending increases, totaling about 13 million euros.
- Public Debt and Deficit:
- The growth of the debt ratio is expected to halt by 2027 if government decisions are fully implemented.
- Without government measures, the budget deficit would be nearly 16 billion euros.
- Employment Measures:
- Government measures are expected to strengthen employment by approximately 79,400 jobs and public finances by about 1.8 billion euros over the medium term.
- Sector-Specific Savings:
- Various specific savings measures are outlined, including reductions in state payments for integration support, church funding, dietary allowances, and more.
- Taxation:
- Tax revenue for the state is projected at around 67.0 billion euros in 2025.
- Various tax changes are planned, including adjustments to income tax bases, VAT increases, and excise duties.
- Growth Initiatives:
- Several initiatives to support economic growth are being implemented, including improvements in investment permit processing and promoting market competitiveness.
- Plans to increase R&D spending to 4% of GDP by 2030.
- Next Steps:
- The Ministry of Finance’s proposal for the 2025 budget will be published on August 9th.
- The government’s budget session will take place on September 3-4.
- The budget proposal will be reviewed in an extraordinary finance committee meeting and a general government session on September 23rd.
The presentation emphasizes the gradual economic recovery, the importance of government measures to stabilize public finances, and the need for continued fiscal discipline to achieve long-term economic stability.
Source vm.fi
