HELESINKI: Anne Berner (Centre), the Minister of Transport and Communications, has reminded that changes in consumption patterns may necessitate quick changes to how motor vehicles are taxed in Finland.
Advances made in the automotive industry will create considerable pressures to overhaul car taxes in Finland, writes Kauppalehti. Anne Berner (Centre), the Minister of Transport and Communications, estimates that it is unlikely that the taxes will be revised before the next parliamentary elections but reminds that changes in consumption patterns can occur quickly. Consumption habits are at the core of the change,” she said in an automotive industry seminar organised in Finlandia Hall on Thursday by Alma Media. “We’ve witnessed changes in car ownership and in what values are important. The financing base will be based on taxing [car] use rather than ownership.” She pointed out that climate goals and the growing popularity of the sharing economy among car owners are set to create additional pressure for changes in the tax system. She predicted that ride-sharing arrangements will ultimately develop to the extent that car ownership becomes unnecessary in the future, at least in urban regions.
The Finnish government has adopted the objective of bringing 250,000 electric and 50,000 natural gas vehicles on its roads by 2030. It has also introduced a scrapping scheme that entitles car owners who scrap their end-of-life vehicle before purchasing a new one to a premium of 1,500 euros in an attempt to modernise the ageing motor vehicle stock of Finland. Car owners have been eager to take advantage of the scrapping scheme, according to preliminary statistics.
