This week Statistics Finland reported that the number of payment defaulters subject to collection increased by two percent last year compared to the year before.
There were some 291,000 debtors subject to enforcement in 2022, with debts totalling some 7.6 billion euros.
Inheritance tax debt accounted for 12 million euros of the total, up from four million euros that went into collection in 2019.
"It's a fact that estates are growing and this trend will continue as large age groups pass away. They have a lot more assets than previous generations," said Marjatta Onnela-Kariniemi of financial magazine Taloussanomat.
Sixty-five to 74-year-olds are the wealthiest group of people in Finland. Inheritance tax is owed on assets valued in excess of 20,000 euros.
Sometimes it can be difficult to sell inherited property, like an old summer cottage, to pay the taxes owed on it.
If a parent dies, the child will owe inheritance tax on a share of their parents' home, even if the surviving parent continues on living in it.
Regardless of whether an inheritance consists of money, property or stocks, the tax office sets taxes on the value of an asset on the day the person died.
Liquid assets are needed to pay the taxes. This means selling off assets or having cash in the bank.
"But there aren't many people who have extra liquid assets. Without cash in the estate, things get tricky," Onnela-Kariniemi said.
Finland has seen many discussions around reforming laws on inheritance tax, including a proposal for these taxes to fall due after—not before—an inherited asset is sold.
"It's an absurd situation that citizens due to no fault of their own become subject to debt enforcement because of inheritance tax," she said.
Sweden abolished its inheritance and gift tax in 2005, and Finland has seen several citizens' initiatives calling for it to do the same.
There were some 291,000 debtors subject to enforcement in 2022, with debts totalling some 7.6 billion euros.