Soaring stock markets combined with a recession and high unemployment are igniting debate on whether Finland should raise its capital gains tax, reports Swedish-language daily Hufvudstadsbladet.
A recent study by an Academy of Finland-funded research project (Bibu) found that more than two-thirds of Finns want to see progressive taxation of capital income to better reflect the tax treatment of wage earners.
Finland levies a 34 percent tax on capital income above 30,000 euros and a 30 percent tax on capital income below that level.
Experts told HBL that raising capital income taxes could lead to increased tax-optimised wealth planning while also prompting wealthy individuals to move their savings abroad to avoid taxes.
Education's demographic challenges
Teacher union chair Olli Luukkainen tells tabloid Ilta-Sanomat that municipalities need at least 5,000 residents in order to provide compulsory education. Last year, 138 of Finland’s 310 municipalities were home to fewer than 5,000 people, making up around six percent of the population.
Fewer than 10 children were born in 42 municipalities while there were 99 municipalities that saw fewer than 20 new babies.
Luukkainen sees municipal bureaucracy eating away at education funds if decision makers don’t rethink how to provide education in sparsely populated communities.
Education cuts have totalled 2.3 billion euros since 2011, according to the OAJ.
Pension planning
Delaying retirement for a year past the minimum pension age boosts seniors' income by nine percent, reports Iltalehti, citing a study by the Finnish Centre for Pensions (ETK). This advantage, however, decreases after the first additional year.
Women also benefit more from staying in work life for a year past the minimum retirement age, according to the ETK, thanks to their longer life expectancy.
In 2019, life expectancy for men was 79.2 years and 84.5 for women, according to Statistics Finland.
Business magazine Talouselämä meanwhile features an interview with finance minister Matti Vanhanen saying Finland is becoming like Japan with its declining birth rates and growing life expectancy.
Last week news emerged that Finland had the lowest birth rate in the Nordics as the country’s total fertility rate fell below 1.4 in 2019.