Response to the Finnish Government's proposal on the tax credits for large scale investments

Fortum appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on the Government's proposal to Parliament for an act on tax credits for certain large investments aimed at achieving a climate-neutral economy. In Fortum's view, the initiative is necessary and crucial to promote new investment projects and attract private capital to Finland.

For the proposal to meet its objectives, it is crucial to understand the nature of carbon-neutral investments. Large projects require extensive planning, and the time and funding needed for the investment set challenges to the impact of the tax credit on the investment decision.

In our response, we asked for clarifications and provided proposals to ensure the objectives of the proposal are met. We asked for hydrogen projects to be included within the scope of the proposal and called for eligibility of the incentives to all investors in Finland meeting the criteria. We proposed revisiting the proposal to ensure that the effect of the tax credit is not reduced to zero or even distorted. To avoid undesirable effects on large groups, a combination of tax credits, relief on other taxes borne, and/or depreciation specific to minimum tax legislation should be considered. This approach would allow the achievement of the incentive objectives of promoting carbon-neutral investments.

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