Finland will need to overhaul transport taxation in the coming years as the shift to electric vehicles reduces revenue from fuel and other motoring taxes, according to responses from parliamentary group representatives surveyed by Verkkouutiset.
Transport-specific taxes generated around €3.9 billion in 2024. On current trends, the real value of that revenue is projected to be roughly €1 billion lower by 2030.
The parties largely agree that the tax base must be secured, but differ sharply over how.
Finns Party parliamentary group chair Jani Mäkelä said some form of taxation on increasingly electric transport would probably be unavoidable.
He rejected a mileage-based tax involving vehicle tracking, citing privacy concerns, and said the Finns Party has traditionally opposed congestion charges.
“Motorists have already paid for the roads many times over through taxes. Those roads must also remain available during rush hour,” Mäkelä said.
National Coalition Party parliamentary group chair Jukka Kopra also called for a broader reform, but said major structural changes would take time.
The party does not support a tax based on kilometres driven and also opposes congestion charges.
“Finland’s long distances and different transport needs must be taken into account in all decisions on transport taxation. For many people, a car is essential and reducing the number of kilometres they drive is simply not realistic,” Kopra said.
Vehicle tax seen as a more immediate option
Social Democratic Party MP Joona Räsänen said reform is necessary and that the immediate objective should be to stabilise tax revenue.
“In the short term, the realistic option is particularly to look at the vehicle tax,” he said.
Räsänen noted that mileage-based taxation has been discussed in Finland for around 15 years without a workable model being found.
He did not rule it out permanently, however, saying technological developments could eventually make such a system possible.
Räsänen also opposed congestion charges, arguing that they could become an additional tax on commuting, with the heaviest burden falling on people travelling longer distances to work.
Centre Party parliamentary group chair Antti Kurvinen said the reform should treat cars using different power sources more equally.
The Centre Party wants to abolish Finland’s current propulsion tax, commonly known as the “diesel tax”, as part of the reform.
“The Centre Party does not support congestion charges anywhere in Finland,” Kurvinen said.
He did not take a position on mileage taxation in his response, although the party has previously proposed such a model.
Greens and Left Alliance more open to road pricing
Greens parliamentary group chair Oras Tynkkynen said the decline in transport-tax revenue should be halted, most likely through regional congestion charges or nationwide road-user charges alongside existing taxes.
He said charges could be varied according to time, location and vehicle emissions.
“This would allow charges to be higher for fossil-fuel cars driven during rush hour in major southern cities and lower for low-emission cars driven in sparsely populated areas at quiet times,” Tynkkynen said.
The Greens also support congestion charging in the Helsinki region.
Left Alliance deputy parliamentary group chair Timo Furuholm said the party supports reform provided low-emission transport remains taxed more lightly overall than fossil-fuel alternatives.
Furuholm said personally that a mileage-based tax could be a fair way to raise revenue, although the parliamentary group has not adopted an official position on it.
He also stressed regional differences.
“Driving a private car in Helsinki with good public transport is a completely different matter from driving in a place such as Puolanka,” he said.
The Left Alliance supports legislation that would allow cities or urban regions to introduce congestion charges.
A recent model proposed by service-sector employers’ group Palta would eventually replace part of the current system with a mileage-based charge. In an indicative calculation prepared for Verkkouutiset, annual energy and tax costs for a driver covering 60,000 kilometres would rise by almost €1,100 for a diesel car and nearly €1,800 for an electric car.
Kopra described increases of that scale as substantial and rejected the model. Tynkkynen warned against raising the cost of electric driving too quickly relative to fossil-fuel cars, while Furuholm said additional taxation should not fall disproportionately on low-income motorists or people who have no realistic alternative to driving.
The Swedish People’s Party, Christian Democrats and Movement Now did not respond to the Verkkouutiset survey.