Getty Images
We knew Scandinavia was cold. Just not this cold.
Times are tough the world over. But the Finnish government is planning to go so low as to tax confections. This past Thursday, “the [Finnish] government decided in its general session that a tax is to be levied on candies and similar sweets, chocolate, cocoa products, ice cream, and popsicles or ice lollies,” according to a new report in the Finnish newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat.
The tax, which will come into effect at roughly 75 Euro cents to the kilogram at the beginning of next year, is in fact a renewal of a levy last implemented in 1999. And the reason for the return of the cocoa tax? It’s seemingly got nothing to do with health concerns; “the aim is to increase the revenues from taxes, particularly in order to cover the gap caused by the abolition of the employer contributions to the basic pension insurance scheme,” Helsingin says.
Indeed, a report in the The Helsinki Times says the move could generate upwards of 120 million Euros a year. But Helsinki, have you no sense of dignity?