With fewer people driving diesel cars, Finland will have a hard time making up significant vehicle tax losses, according to an Iltalehti op-ed piece.
Revenue from vehicle taxes plummeted by a quarter last year. Tax revenue amounted to 382.6 million euros, compared to over 500 million euros the previous year.
The car tax is a one-time fee for vehicles being registered for the first time — but not if they're electric. Finland does not tax EVs at all under the current vehicle tax model. But only if they were registered after October 2021.
The tax shortfall is merely a knock-on effect of previous governments' policies, with consumers reducing emissions by transitioning to cleaner vehicles, according to the paper.
Finland is struggling to balance its finances, which means it needs to find revenue streams somewhere else, including raising value-added taxes, according to IL.
Stagnating capital
Hufvudstadsbladet follows up on news that the housing market is improving in some parts of Finland. For the country as a whole, Pellervo economic research PTT predicts a cautious increase in prices for old high-rise apartments this year. But not in Helsinki.
The capital region has been the site of much new construction in recent years, resulting in a large supply of new apartments.
Rising interest rates have meanwhile led property investors to flee the market. When mortgage rates were zero, it was favorable to invest in rental apartments, which increased demand and pushed up prices — which is not the case anymore.
American girlfriend
Ilta-Sanomat's most-read story on Friday concerns the former love interest of Alexander Stubb. The article also suggests that the new president may know a thing or two about the US Bible Belt.
"I wasn't too surprised when I heard he [Stubb] became prime minister because he had already mentioned that as his goal back in university," Florida native Kerstin Armstrong told IS.
Citing Stubb's 2017 biography, IS noted that Armstrong was a "philosophical Christian" who introduced Stubb, then a student at Furman University, to churches in the southern states.
"But even love has its limits, so I didn't join prayer meetings, but I participated in reading groups where we pondered the deepest essence of the New Testament and watched movies with a philosophical undertone…. In the end, the relationship was down to a simple choice. Kerstin had to choose between Jesus and me. Jesus won," IS writes, citing Stubb's book.
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