Extending reduced penalty interest for farmers
Government proposal to Parliament on extending the period of validity of the act on the temporary reduction of the penalty interest on insurance premiums payable to the Farmers' Social Insurance Institution
The penalty interest rate on farmers' pension and accident insurance premiums will be kept reduced at 4 per cent in 2019 and 2020. The change will ease payment difficulties on farms caused by the weak market situation and difficult weather conditions.
- Status
- Passed
- Submitted
- 14 Sep 2018
- Latest event
- 29 Nov 2018
- Votes
- 0
- Confirmed
- 14 Dec 2018
- Statute
- 1098/2018
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
The temporarily reduced 4 per cent penalty interest rate on insurance premiums payable to Mela (the Farmers' Social Insurance Institution) will be extended by two years until the end of 2020.
What it means
The change will apply to farmers and grant recipients who have payment difficulties with Mela's insurance premiums. They will not have to pay the standard penalty interest under the Interest Act (reference rate + 8 percentage points), which will support farm liquidity and the retention of pension coverage. As a loss of central government transfers, the measure will cost the state an estimated 0.6 million euros per year. The act will enter into force on 1 January 2019.
How Parliament voted
The bill passed without a vote – no MP proposed rejecting or amending it in plenary.
Stages of consideration
The bill's path from the preliminary debate to the decision, as recorded by Parliament.
- 14 Sep 2018Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö
- 18 Sep 2018Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 20 Nov 2018Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · sosiaali- ja terveysvaliokunta
- 22 Nov 2018Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 27 Nov 2018Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 28 Nov 2018Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal1
- 1Maatalousyrittäjien eläkelaitokselle maksettavien vakuutusmaksujen viivästyskoron väliaikaisesta alentamisesta annetun lain 3 §:n muuttamisestaHyväksytty · 1098/2018 · 14 Dec 2018
Proposed law text
The law proposals in the bill as the Government presented them. The final act may differ after committee consideration.
The law text is shown in Finnish or Swedish from Parliament's official documents; it is not translated into English.
Laki Maatalousyrittäjien eläkelaitokselle maksettavien vakuutusmaksujen viivästyskoron väliaikaisesta alentamisesta annetun lain 3 §:n muuttamisesta
Eduskunnan päätöksen mukaisesti muutetaan Maatalousyrittäjien eläkelaitokselle maksettavien vakuutusmaksujen viivästyskoron väliaikaisesta alentamisesta annetun lain (693/2017) 3 §:n 1 momentti seuraavasti:
3 §
Tämä laki tulee voimaan 1 päivänä marraskuuta 2017 ja on voimassa 31 päivään joulukuuta 2020.
§
Tämä laki tulee voimaan 1 päivänä tammikuuta 2019.
Main content of the bill (official)
The summary and title were produced with AI on 13 Sep 2026. They are not official documents – check the details in the original bill. The title and summaries are machine translations of the Finnish AI summaries. Speeches and quotations are always shown in their original language.