Raising alcohol tax
Act amending the annex to the Act on Excise Duty on Alcohol and Alcoholic Beverages
Taxation of alcoholic beverages will be increased from the beginning of 2021. This will raise retail prices of alcoholic beverages in shops and restaurants by an average of just over 2 per cent.
- Status
- Passed
- Submitted
- 5 Oct 2020
- Latest event
- 20 Nov 2020
- Votes
- 1
- Speeches
- 41
- Confirmed
- 27 Nov 2020
- Statute
- 887/2020
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
Excise duty on alcoholic beverages will be increased by an average of around 5 per cent. The tax on wine will be raised by 6.0 per cent, on beer by 4.2 per cent, on ciders and other mild fermented beverages by 3.7 per cent, on intermediate products by 4.6 per cent, and on spirits by 3.2 per cent. In addition, the tax level on beverages containing very little alcohol (up to 2.8 per cent) will be increased more than the others, in order to reduce their tax disparity compared to the soft drinks tax.
What it means
The act will enter into force on 1 January 2021 and will increase central government tax revenue by around 50 million euros annually. With the increase, retail prices of alcoholic beverages will rise by an average of just over 2 per cent and restaurant prices by around 0.5 per cent, which is estimated to reduce alcohol consumption by around 1 per cent. Alongside consumers, the change will affect the beverage industry, the grocery trade, Alko, and the hospitality sector.
How Parliament voted
2nd reading · 17 Nov 2020Parliament passed the act by 34–22.
Government yes, opposition no. 143 MPs were absent. Minutes ↗
Filled dot = yes, ring = no, grey = absent. The seating plan at the time of this vote is not archived, so MPs are grouped by party in indicative seats.
A passed act does not enter into force immediately: the President of the Republic confirms it, and it enters into force on the date set in the act. This act was confirmed on 27 Nov 2020.
Debate in the chamber
What was argued and where each group stood, followed by MPs' speeches verbatim from the parliamentary record. Speeches are shown in their original language.
41 speeches · 3 debates
Key points of the debate
The debate focused on the government proposal to raise alcohol tax by 50 million euros to generate state revenue and reduce harm. The government parties and the Christian Democrats considered the increase moderate and justified, while the opposition opposed it from a business perspective. The proposal was controversial because opponents argued that the tax hike would exacerbate the difficulties of the restaurant industry struggling with the coronavirus crisis and shift sales abroad.
- How will the alcohol tax increase affect the restaurant industry suffering from the coronavirus crisis?
- Will the tax increase boost passenger imports of alcohol and orders from foreign online stores?
- Should takeaway and distance sales for microbreweries and restaurants be liberalised to support domestic business?
- Social DemocratsIn favour
The group considered the tax increase necessary to increase central government tax revenue and also saw it as having positive public health impacts.
”Tämä on ennen kaikkea tällä kertaa fiskaalinen korotus.”
— Aki Lindén - Centre PartyIn favour
The group supported a moderate tax increase to safeguard the central government revenue base and considered it important to favour milder alcoholic beverages in taxation.
”Kyseessä on fiskaalinen korotus, joka kohdistettaisiin kaikkiin juomaryhmiin pääosin yhtä suurena suhteessa juoman sisältämään alkoholiin.”
— Matti Vanhanen - GreensIn favour
The group considered the increase to be moderate, curbing alcohol harm, and correcting tax disparities regarding low-alcohol and non-alcoholic beverages.
”itse tämä esityshän on vaikutuksiltaan varsin pieni, kun satojen miljoonien verokokonaisuuteen tehdään 50 miljoonan euron korotus.”
— Iiris Suomela - Left AllianceIn favour
The group supported the basic decisions of the bill and the correction of tax disparities, but raised wishes to improve operating conditions and distance sales for microbreweries.
”Hyvää tässä on se perusviritys, että nyt alkoholiton olut ja hieman alkoholia sisältävä olut huomioidaan, tämä asia korjataan.”
— Jari Myllykoski - National Coalition PartyAgainst
The group opposed the proposal and called for its rejection, because the tax increase would weaken operating conditions and employment in the tourism and restaurant industry suffering from the coronavirus crisis.
”Tältä pohjalta teen kokoomuksen vastalauseen mukaisen ehdotuksen, jonka mukaan siis ehdotamme, että tämä lakiehdotus hylätään.”
— Matias Marttinen - Finns PartyAgainst
The group opposed the tax increase, considering that it would increase passenger imports of alcohol and online purchases from abroad, and excessively punish the struggling domestic restaurant industry.
”Koronakriisi painaa ravintola-alaa, ja mielestäni nyt ei ole veronkorotusten paikka. Itse asiassa minä olen sitä mieltä, että alkoholiverotaso on jo nyt liian korkea.”
— Mikko Lundén - Christian DemocratsIn favour
The group supported the government proposal, emphasising the importance of restricting alcohol prices and availability for public health and harm prevention.
”Kristillisdemokraattinen eduskuntaryhmä on hallituksen linjoilla tämän esityksen suhteen.”
— Sari Essayah
This digest was generated by AI from 41 speeches 13 Sep 2026. Group positions are read from the speeches, not from votes; quotations were checked verbatim against the record.
Keskustelu päättyi. Asia lähetettiin valtiovarainvaliokuntaan.
Yleiskeskustelu päättyi. Eduskunta hyväksyi hallituksen esitykseen HE 145/2020 vp sisältyvän lakiehdotuksen sisällön mietinnön mukaisena. Lakiehdotuksen ensimmäinen käsittely päättyi.
Keskustelu päättyi ja asian käsittely keskeytettiin.
Stages of consideration
The bill's path from the preliminary debate to the decision, as recorded by Parliament.
- 5 Oct 2020Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Valtiovarainministeriö
- 7 Oct 2020Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 6 Nov 2020Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · valtiovarainvaliokunta
- 11 Nov 2020Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 18 Nov 2020Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 19 Nov 2020Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal1
- 1Laki alkoholi- ja alkoholijuomaverosta annetun lain liitteen muuttamisestaHyväksytty · 887/2020 · 27 Nov 2020
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 alkoholi- ja alkoholijuomaverosta annetun lain liitteen muuttamisesta
Eduskunnan päätöksen mukaisesti muutetaan alkoholi- ja alkoholijuomaverosta annetun lain (1471/1994) liite, sellaisena kuin se on laissa 1211/2019, seuraavasti:
§
Tämä laki tulee voimaan päivänä kuuta 20 .
Main content of the bill (official)
The summary and title were produced with AI on 2 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.