Taxation of highest incomes has decreased more than national average
|
|
|
According to a survey by Helsingin Sanomat, the taxation rate of those in Finland's highest income brackets has gone down by 8.3 percentage points in the past five years.
The decline is much greater than among wage earners getting average incomes, whose tax burden has gone down by just 2.6 percentage points in the 1999 - 2003 period.
One reason why the tax break enjoyed by the wealthiest individuals is so much greater than that of others is that the proportion of capital gains in their income has increased. Income from capital is taxed at a lower rate than earned income, which means that entrepreneurs pay less taxes if they are paid mostly in the form of dividends.
The comparison involved 1,000 Finns with the highest levels of earned and capital income in each year.
The tax statistics released on Monday indicate that Nokia employees no longer dominate the list of the highest earners, because the return on the company’s stock options plummeted last year.
On the other hand, the main owners of Instrumentarium got good stock option benefits when the company was bought by General Electric.
The success of Finnish popular music was also reflected in new artists joining the ranks of Finland’s top income-earners.
Helsingin Sanomat
