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.