SDP wants 'solidarity tax' on high earners
SDP chair and finance minister Jutta Urpilainen has proposed an additional tax to be levied on those earning more than 100,000 euros annually. Urpilainen says that a solidarity tax to be levied on high-income individuals is an SDP goal in upcoming negotiations over the framework government budget.
Urpilainen told a party event in Vantaa that she does not believe that a solidarity tax would plug all the holes in the state budget, but that it would be an important demonstration of fairness.
The issue has been discussed with other parties for some time, according to Urpilainen. She also pointed out that similar taxes have been implemented in other countries.
Negotiations over the next government budget will be crucial, according to Urpilainen, as they will decide the direction of Finnish economic policy. She admits that savings must be made, but argues that belts shouldn’t be tightened so much that economic growth and employment suffer.
A similar solidarity tax was proposed in the Finns party’s ‘shadow budget’ last autumn. It was nicknamed the ‘Wahlroos tax’ after the free market advocate, polemicist and banker, Björn Wahlroos. YLE estimated then that the ‘Wahlroos tax’ would apply to fewer than 35,000 people out of a tax-paying population of around 1.7 million.
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