In Finland, Left Alliance leader Koskela calls for higher taxes on the wealthy
In Finland, Left Alliance leader Minja Koskela said that wealthy people may agree to pay more taxes to support the welfare state. As YLE News reports, the politician supports an annual 1% tax on wealth exceeding €1 million, excluding the home in which the owner lives.
The Left Alliance also proposes taxing capital income on a progressive scale similar to the taxation of earned income. Koskela believes that people with high incomes and substantial wealth should contribute more to budget adjustment.
According to her, Finland has provided wealthy citizens with free education, support for starting businesses, and a safe society. Koskela did not deny that tighter taxation could prompt some capital owners to move abroad, but stressed the need for a fair distribution of the burden of budget decisions.
The party’s tax proposals
Last week, the Left Alliance presented a list of possible tax increases worth €9 billion to demonstrate the scope for strengthening taxation. The party said it does not plan to introduce all the proposals at once: individual taxes may become part of future measures to adjust public finances.
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Koskela said that the Left Alliance’s future economic programme will mainly include tax increases, as well as some spending cuts — including subsidies harmful to the environment. She did not name the exact ratio between tax changes and cuts, but said that the scale of the adjustment would be less than €8 billion.
Negotiations after the elections
The Left Alliance did not join the agreement of other Finnish parties on the so-called debt brake. Koskela argues that spending cuts or tax increases of €8–11 billion, which she says are required by EU rules to curb debt, will not be fully reflected in the election programmes of other parties.
In a poll conducted by Taloustutkimus for YLE, the Left Alliance received 11.7% — the highest figure in the 35-year history of these measurements. Koskela said that her political goal after the next elections is to take part in negotiations on forming a government. She ruled out cooperation with the Finns Party, but said she was ready for talks with other political forces.
