There will be a follow up of the tax exemptions for timber trade
proposed by the Finnish Government. The Government now intends to make
forest conservation more attractive by means of tax relief.
In
the Government's budget session it decided that forest sales to the
State for nature preservation purposes will be exempted from capital
gains tax. Ms Sirkka-Liisa Anttila, Minister of Agriculture and
Forestry, predicts that this tax carrot will considerably increase
sales of protected areas in the same way as in the case of the
temporary tax exemption and relief for forest thinning and felling.
Sources within the Ministry of Finance indicate that no timetable has
yet been fixed for this project. Preparation will continue when the
Government's budget proposal is ready in the autumn. In the last
instance that proposal will be adopted by the Parliament.
