Further temporary cut in lottery tax
Government proposal to Parliament to supplement the government proposal for an act temporarily amending section 4 of the Lottery Tax Act (HE 145/2021 vp)
Lottery tax on gambling operated under an exclusive licence will be temporarily reduced more than previously planned in 2022. The change safeguards grants paid to non-profit beneficiaries from Veikkaus proceeds.
- Status
- Passed
- Submitted
- 18 Nov 2021
- Latest event
- 8 Dec 2021
- Votes
- 0
- Speeches
- 15
- Confirmed
- 16 Dec 2021
- Statute
- 1130/2021
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
The tax rate applied to lotteries operated under an exclusive licence will be reduced to 3.4 per cent for 2022 (instead of the 5.0 per cent in the earlier proposal). In 2023, the tax rate will be 5.0 per cent, compared with the standard tax rate of 12 per cent.
What it means
The change will reduce Veikkaus Oy's lottery tax for 2022 by around 19 million euros more than previously planned, leaving the company with a corresponding amount to distribute to beneficiaries. PAF's tax will decrease by around 1.4 million euros. Central government tax revenue will decrease by around 17 million euros in cash receipts for 2022. The act will be in force from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2023.
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.
15 speeches · 1 debate
Key points of the debate
The debate addressed the temporary reduction in lottery tax, intended to safeguard grants awarded to non-profit operators from Veikkaus proceeds. The governing parties considered the proposal essential to safeguard funding for culture, physical activity and non-governmental organisations. In the opposition, concerns were raised on the one hand over central government spending limits, while on the other hand criticism was levelled at a funding model that relies on people suffering from gambling harm.
- Should the funding of non-governmental organisations be separated entirely from gambling proceeds?
- Should the compensation to beneficiaries be covered by making savings in other central government spending?
- Social DemocratsIn favour
The tax cut is a good and necessary solution to safeguard the operating conditions of important non-profit operators and central government sports funding during a transition period.
”Totean sen saman kuin edellisessä kohdassa, että tämä on hyvä ja on välttämätöntä, että nämä kompensaatiot ensi vuodelle tulevat, ja tämä on yksi osa niiden rahoituksessa.”
— Pia Viitanen - Centre PartyIn favour
Lowering lottery tax is a necessary measure to safeguard funding levels for non-governmental organisations, science, arts and sports despite the fall in gambling proceeds.
”Tämä ratkaisu vastaa sitä aiempaa kompensaatiopäätöstä ja sen rahoituspohjaa, jotka oli tehty puoliväliriihessä.”
— Annika Saarikko - National Coalition PartyIn favour with reservations
The work done by organisations and the horse sector and their need for support are considered valuable, but the Government is criticised for failing to prioritise spending and find savings elsewhere.
”Tämä edustaja Viitasen puheenvuoro oli hyvin perusteltu, eli nämä järjestöt tekevät valtavan arvokasta työtä niin liikunnan alalla, sosiaalityön alalla kuin tietysti myös kulttuurin alalla.”
— Ben Zyskowicz - Finns PartySplit
Views within the group varied: on the one hand, the proposal was supported for the sake of the horse sector and beneficiaries, but on the other hand, keeping a system based on gambling harm on life support was criticised.
”Kun peliriippuvuuksista ja valtavista pelimääristä riippuvainen järjestöjen rahoitus on ollut uhattuna, viimeisen käyttöpäivän ylittänyttä järjestelmää on päädytty taas tekohengittämään.”
— Sebastian Tynkkynen
This digest was generated by AI from 15 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.
Stages of consideration
The bill's path from the preliminary debate to the decision, as recorded by Parliament.
- 18 Nov 2021Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Valtiovarainministeriö
- 23 Nov 2021Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 30 Nov 2021Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · valtiovarainvaliokunta
- 1 Dec 2021Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 7 Dec 2021Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 8 Dec 2021Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal1
- 1Laki arpajaisverolain 4 §:n väliaikaisesta muuttamisestaHyväksytty · 1130/2021 · 16 Dec 2021
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 arpajaisverolain 4 §:n väliaikaisesta muuttamisesta
Eduskunnan päätöksen mukaisesti muutetaan väliaikaisesti arpajaisverolain (552/1992) 4 §:n 1 momentti, sellaisena kuin se on laissa 1315/2011, seuraavasti:
4 §Veron peruste ja verokanta
Yksinoikeudella toimeenpantavista arpajaisista arpajaisvero on 3,4 prosenttia tuotosta vuonna 2022 ja 5,0 prosenttia tuotosta vuonna 2023.
§
Tämä laki tulee voimaan päivänä kuuta 20 ja on voimassa vuoden 2023 loppuun.
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.