The first day of November has become a red-letter day for followers of the fate and fortunes of the captains of industry and the political elite, as it's when the Finnish Tax Administration, Vero, releases all taxpayer data.
The country’s second-biggest earner was another employee of the Helsinki-based game firm Supercell, creative director Mikko Kodisoja, who pocketed 57,535,431 euros.
Supercell employees crowded the top ten list with Janne Snellman (22,363,972 euros) coming in fifth place, John Derome (19,145,088 euros) in sixth, and Visa Forsten (17,316,120 euros) in eighth. Last year's list mirrors the top earners' table of 2016, when Finland's top 3 earners were all from the same Helsinki-based game firm. Supercell has meanwhile made international headlines for not using financial planning schemes to avoid paying taxes.
The list’s dark horse is Alexander Hanhikoski, founder and CEO of Bittisiirto, a company specialising in real-time payments. The thirty-something entrepreneur pulled down 24,635,470 euros, giving him the country's third-highest salary.
Other top earners include the founder and CEO of dental equipment manufacturer Planmeca, Heikki Kyöstilä, whose taxable income reached 22,673,597 euros, earning him fourth place.
Twelve women made it into the table of top 100 earners, with the highest-earning woman, Ulla Riitta Sjöström, coming in 28th, with 9,086,091 euros mainly in capital income for selling the family’s civilian shelter equipment business.
Finland’s top 1000 earners paid 900 million euros in taxes in 2017, according to information released by the Finnish Tax Administration on Thursday.
In total, Finnish residents earned some 140 billion euros last year including capital income, profiting the state some 30 billion euros.