HELSINKI – Finland’s authorities plans to introduce a brand new tax on minerals extracted by the mining trade, the Nordic nation’s finance ministry mentioned on Tuesday.
A few of the European Union’s best identified reserves of minerals used for batteries and different merchandise are situated in Finland the place there are round 40 operational mines producing nickel, zinc, lithium, cobalt and gold amongst others.
Finland has to this point not collected taxes on minerals however the authorities now proposes introducing a royalty of 0.6% on the taxable worth of metallic minerals and of 0.2 euros per extracted tonne for different minerals, the ministry mentioned.
With the brand new tax, the federal government calculates it might gather yearly some 25-million euros ($24.1-million), with 60% of it to be directed to the municipalities the place mines are situated and 40% to the central authorities.
“The purpose of the tax is to consider the character of mining minerals… as non-renewable pure sources and to direct an inexpensive compensation for his or her use to the society,” the ministry mentioned in a press release.
The brand new tax, pending approval in Finland’s parliament, is deliberate to take impact from the start of 2024.