Raising taxes on alcoholic beverages
Act amending the annex to the Act on Excise Duty on Alcohol and Alcoholic Beverages
The excise duty on alcoholic beverages will be increased by an average of 2.5 per cent from the beginning of 2019. The increase will raise retail prices of alcoholic beverages by just over one per cent on average.
- Status
- Passed
- Submitted
- 4 Oct 2018
- Latest event
- 16 Nov 2018
- Votes
- 0
- Speeches
- 21
- Confirmed
- 23 Nov 2018
- Statute
- 1031/2018
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
The excise duty on all categories of alcoholic beverages will rise. The tax on wine will be increased by 3.7 per cent, on beer by 2.7 per cent, on other mild fermented beverages by 2.1 per cent, on intermediate products by 2.9 per cent and on ethyl alcohol beverages by 2.0 per cent. The tax level on very mild alcoholic beverages containing at most 2.8 per cent alcohol will be raised by 9 to 13 per cent to match the level of the excise duty on soft drinks.
What it means
The amendment will increase state tax revenue by about 30 million euros on an annual basis and by about 28 million euros in 2019. For consumers, this will be reflected in higher retail prices; for example, the price of a litre of beer will rise by about 6 cents, a litre of wine by 17 cents and a litre of spirits by 47 cents, while restaurant prices will rise by about 0.5 per cent. The tax subsidy received by small breweries will increase by about 300,000 euros. The increases 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.
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.
21 speeches · 3 debates
Key points of the debate
The debate addressed a moderate increase in the excise duty on alcoholic beverages and its impacts on state revenue, public health and passenger imports. The proposal was considered necessary to increase state cash revenue, but views diverged on whether the increase was sufficient, on the tax treatment of different beverage categories and on business impacts. The proposal also raised disagreements over whether value added tax (VAT) on restaurant alcohol service should be lowered instead of raising taxes.
- Will the alcohol tax increase increase passenger imports from Estonia?
- Should the tax be increased significantly more for public health reasons?
- Is the higher tax increase on wine justified compared to beer and spirits?
- Should value added tax (VAT) on restaurant alcohol service be lowered?
Within the group, some MPs accepted a small increase due to the state's fiscal needs, while others opposed continuous tax increases and favoured lowering taxes or restaurant VAT.
”Olen itse sitä mieltä, että jatkuvien alkoholiveron korotusten sijaan alkoholiveroa tulisi maltillisesti alentaa, mutta tälle ajatukselleni ei ainakaan vielä ole tarpeeksi kannatusta.”
— Jaana Pelkonen - Centre PartyIn favour
The group supported the moderate tax increase because it strengthens public finances and curbs the public health and social harms caused by alcohol consumption.
”Alkoholiveron maltillinen korotus on paikallaan.”
— Pekka Puska - Blue ReformIn favour
The group supported the proposal for reasons of public finances and considered the smaller increase on beer protecting the domestic brewing industry to be positive, but warned that the scope for further tax increases had been exhausted.
”Tässä alkoholiveron korottamisessa ajatus ja ennuste on, että vuositasolla noin 30 miljoonaa euroa lisää tulee sitä kautta valtion kassaan.”
— Simon Elo - Finns PartyAgainst
The group opposed the tax increase because it widens the price gap with neighbouring countries, boosts passenger imports from Estonia and punishes moderate consumers with harsher taxation on table wines.
”Nyt Suomi taas yrittää tehdä sitä väliä isommaksi, eli kun täällä nostetaan alkoholiveroa, niin taas se tekee houkuttelevammaksi lähteä Viroon matkailemaan”
— Rami Lehto - Social DemocratsSplit
The group on the one hand accepted an increase in the tax on harmful products to raise state revenue, but on the other hand criticised the proposal as purely fiscal, haphazard and detrimental to domestic business.
”Ainakaan kansanterveydellä tätä ei ole perusteltu, mutta sen sijaan suomalaisille elinkeinoille tässä aiheutetaan tarkoituksella melkomoista haittaa.”
— Timo Harakka - Christian DemocratsIn favour with reservations
The group considered the direction of the proposal to be right to protect public health, but deemed the proposed tax increase far too small given the societal harms of alcohol.
”Me ajattelemme, että vaikka hallituksen esitys on oikeansuuntainen, tulisi korotusten olla kuitenkin merkittävämpiä huomioiden alkoholin kulutuksesta tulevat merkittävät yhteiskunnalliset haitat ja kustannukset.”
— Sari Tanus
This digest was generated by AI from 21 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 165/2018 vp sisältyvän lakiehdotuksen sisällön mietinnön mukaisena. Lakiehdotuksen ensimmäinen käsittely päättyi.
Keskustelu päättyi. Eduskunta hyväksyi ensimmäisessä käsittelyssä sisällöltään päätetyn, hallituksen esitykseen HE 165/2018 vp sisältyvän lakiehdotuksen. Lakiehdotuksen toinen käsittely päättyi. Eduskunta yhtyi valiokunnan ehdotukseen toimenpidealoitteen hylkäämisestä. Asian käsittely päättyi.
Stages of consideration
The bill's path from the preliminary debate to the decision, as recorded by Parliament.
- 4 Oct 2018Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Valtiovarainministeriö
- 9 Oct 2018Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 26 Oct 2018Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · valtiovarainvaliokunta
- 7 Nov 2018Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 13 Nov 2018Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 15 Nov 2018Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal1
- 1Laki alkoholi- ja alkoholijuomaverosta annetun lain liitteen muuttamisestaHyväksytty · 1031/2018 · 23 Nov 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 alkoholi- ja alkoholijuomaverosta annetun lain liitteen muuttamisesta
Eduskunnan päätöksen mukaisesti muutetaan alkoholi- ja alkoholijuomaverosta annetun lain (1471/1994) liite, sellaisena kuin se on laissa 1053/2017, seuraavasti:
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Tämä laki tulee voimaan päivänä kuuta 20 .
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.