Progressive tax scales will be getting tougher, while health and other social insurance payments will see a rise. The state is also set to withhold more tax from pensioners as well as people earning more than 100,000 euros a year.
However, consumers will be most affected by a one percentage point increase in value-added tax. The VAT on most goods and services is going up to 24% and is expected to bring the state a further 600 million euros in new revenues. Valued-added tax on food in shops and restaurants is rising from 13% to 14%, and is likely to generate just under 200 million, while VAT on such things as medication, books and public transport tickets will provide the state with slightly less than 100 million more.
"Those who consume pay VAT and those who consume a lot pay more. It can, of course, be that in relative terms this hits those with lower incomes more, if a larger share of income goes specifically into consumption," points out Teemu Lehtinen, CEO of the Taxpayers’ Association of Finland.
A number of other taxes are also going up in 2013. As of March, taxes on real estate purchases will rise and a new bank tax is calculated to bring in 170 million in revenues. A tax which will be used to finance the operations of the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle will replace TV license fee, as of the start of the year, but in real terms any extra expense to the public is minimal.