Finland will not submit tourist tax to parliament — YLE News

In Finland, a law on a tourist tax will not be adopted during the term of the current government. The coalition parties were unable to reach agreement on the initiative, so the bill will not be submitted to parliament, YLE News reports.

Finance Minister Riikka Purra wrote on social media platform X that it concerned a small levy that is collected together with accommodation payments in many countries. The proposal was developed primarily for tourist centres in Lapland, including Rovaniemi.

Potential revenue

In June, the government proposal was sent out for consultation and the collection of comments. At the time, the Ministry of Finance stated that the tax could potentially generate millions of euros in tax revenue for areas popular with tourists.

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Rovaniemi Mayor Joonas Hänninen criticized the decision to postpone the initiative. According to him, the significant increase in the number of tourists in the city and the wider region in recent years has caused additional expenses for the municipality. These include, in particular, the maintenance of infrastructure and services for visitors, which current state funding does not fully cover.

Industry position

At the same time, the decision was welcomed by the Finnish Hospitality Association MaRa. Its CEO, Timo Lappi, said that the new levy would create additional problems for an industry that is still recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also recalled that during the current government's term, VAT on accommodation and restaurant services had already been raised from 10% to 13.5%. During the consultations, many municipalities also criticized the initiative, fearing higher accommodation prices and weaker demand. Tourist levies are already used, among other places, in Venice, Paris and Seville.