Lowering beer tax and raising other alcohol taxes
Act amending the annex to the Act on Excise Duty on Alcohol and Alcoholic Beverages
The excise duty on beer will be reduced, while taxes on wines, spirits and intermediate products will be increased. As a result of the changes, the price of beer will fall slightly, whereas the prices of other alcoholic beverages will rise.
- Status
- Passed
- Submitted
- 9 Oct 2023
- Latest event
- 14 Dec 2023
- Votes
- 1
- Speeches
- 18
- Confirmed
- 21 Dec 2023
- Statute
- 1236/2023
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
The excise duty on beer with an alcohol content exceeding 3.5 per cent will be reduced by approximately 4.9 per cent. Correspondingly, the duty on wines and other fermented beverages with an alcohol content exceeding 5.5 per cent will be increased by approximately 8.3 per cent, the duty on the ethyl alcohol beverage category by approximately 8.8 per cent, and the duty on intermediate products by an average of 12.7 per cent. Duty rates on the mildest products will remain unchanged.
What it means
The act will enter into force on 1 January 2024 and will increase government tax revenue by approximately 15 million euros on an annual basis. For consumers, the price of beer is estimated to decrease by an average of 1.5 per cent (approximately 11 cents per litre for medium-strength beer), whereas wine prices will rise by an average of 2.4 per cent (approximately 43 cents per litre) and spirits prices by 3.8 per cent (approximately 2.21 euros per litre). In addition to consumers, the change will affect the domestic brewing and beverage industry as well as businesses in retail and the hospitality sector.
How Parliament voted
The act ultimately passed without a vote: no MP proposed rejecting it in the final reading. The only vote concerned a detail of the act.
Lain liite , mietintö / Lauri Lyly , Katri Kulmuni
Yes won by 92–77.
Government yes, opposition no. 2 abstained, 28 were absent. Minutes ↗
Filled dot = yes, ring = no, grey = absent. Point at a dot to see the MP. Seats follow the current seating plan (updated 18 Sep 2026). 15 MPs who voted are not in the current seating plan.
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 21 Dec 2023.
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.
18 speeches · 2 debates
Key points of the debate
The debate centred on the proposal to lower the taxation of beer while increasing taxes on other alcoholic beverages. The government parties justified the change by pointing to overall growth in tax revenue and support for domestic production, while the opposition considered the beer tax cut irresponsible in terms of fiscal and health policy. The proposal was highly contentious and clearly divided Parliament between government and opposition parties.
- Is lowering the beer tax justified given the central government deficit?
- Will the decrease in beer prices increase public health and social harms?
- Does the tax change effectively support the domestic brewing industry and employment?
- National Coalition PartyIn favour
The National Coalition Party supported the proposal as a structural reform that increases tax revenues, steers consumption towards milder domestic beverages and improves employment.
”Tässä alkoholiveron kokonaisuudessa on kyse myös rakenneuudistuksesta.”
— Heikki Autto - Finns PartyIn favour
The Finns Party considered the proposal sound, as total alcohol tax revenue will increase while simultaneously supporting the Finnish brewing industry and domestic raw material production.
”Hallituksen arvovalinta todellakin on se, että me nostamme kokonaisuutena alkoholiverotuksen määrää.”
— Rami Lehtinen - Social DemocratsAgainst
The Social Democrats opposed lowering the beer tax on both health policy and fiscal grounds, calling for the tax cut to be dropped in order to balance central government finances.
”Näistä syistä oluen veronalennuksesta tulee luopua.”
— Lauri Lyly - Centre PartyAgainst
The Centre Party supported the tax increases on other alcoholic beverages but opposed the beer tax cut as a poor value choice at a time when cuts are being made to social security and educational services.
”Keskusta kyllä jättäisi olutveron nykyiselle tasolleen, koska tämä vahvistaisi valtiontaloutta sen 25 miljoonaa euroa hallituksen esitykseen verrattuna.”
— Tuomas Kettunen - Left AllianceAgainst
The Left Alliance opposed the beer tax cut due to public health harms, increasing health and social services costs, and the weak state of central government finances.
”Terveyspoliittisesti ei ole järkevää, saati kannatettavaa alentaa minkään alkoholikategorian verotusta.”
— Minja Koskela
This digest was generated by AI from 18 speeches 13 Sep 2026. Group positions are read from the speeches, not from votes; quotations were checked verbatim against the record.
Yleiskeskustelu päättyi ja asian käsittely keskeytettiin.
Keskustelu päättyi. Eduskunta hyväksyi ensimmäisessä käsittelyssä sisällöltään päätetyn, hallituksen esitykseen HE 37/2023 vp sisältyvän lakiehdotuksen. Lakiehdotuksen toinen käsittely päättyi. Asian käsittely päättyi.
Stages of consideration
The bill's path from the preliminary debate to the decision, as recorded by Parliament.
- 9 Oct 2023Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Valtiovarainministeriö
- 10 Oct 2023Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 28 Nov 2023Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · valtiovarainvaliokunta
- 8 Dec 2023Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 11 Dec 2023Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 13 Dec 2023Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal1
- 1Laki alkoholi- ja alkoholijuomaverosta annetun lain liitteen muuttamisestaHyväksytty · 1236/2023 · 21 Dec 2023
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 1179/2021, 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 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.