New tax on mined minerals 1 January 2024
A tax on minerals that are mined in Finland will be introduced in 2024. The procedural rules that will be applied to the taxation of mined minerals are primarily those of excise taxation and self-assessed taxes. The purpose of the tax is to guarantee a reasonable compensation to society for the extraction of non-renewable natural resources.
The tax must be paid on minerals mined in Finland that are referred to in the Mining Act, excluding minerals found as a result of gold panning. The tax for silver, cobalt, chromium, gold, copper, lithium, nickel, palladium, platinum, zinc, lead, and uranium is 0.6% of the taxable value of their metal content. The Tax Administration confirms the taxable values for each year at the beginning of the calendar year based on the previous year’s prices. The price details are defined by a Government Decree. The tax for other mined minerals is €0.20 per tonne of mined ore or industrial mineral.
Mining companies must pay the tax on mined minerals
The tax must be paid by the party that has mined the mineral and that is required by the Mining Act to have a permit for mining. If a mining operator assigns their mining permit to another party, the tax liability is also transferred to the other party. The taxpayer is usually a mining company.
Mining operators must register with the Tax Administration before starting activities subject to the tax on mined minerals. Existing operators must register as mining operators by 1 March 2024.
The tax period of the tax on mined minerals is the calendar year, and the tax for the tax period must be filed and paid on the operator’s own initiative. The tax return for the first tax period, i.e. tax year 2024, must be filed and the tax paid by 12 March 2025.
The tax on mined minerals and the related legal provisions will come into effect on 1 January 2024.
Read more:
Tax on mined minerals 314/2023 (available in Finnish and Swedish)
Government Proposal 281/2022 vp (eduskunta.fi) (available in Finnish)