Tax on mined minerals

The tax on mined minerals was introduced on 1 January 2024. The purpose of the tax is to compensate the State of Finland for the exploitation of non-renewable 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.

Mining companies must obtain registration

Mining companies and other operators must submit an application for registration to the Tax Administration before starting their activities subjected to the new tax.

The operators need to have all their active mines recorded in the register. The operators also need to inform the Tax Administration of any changes, and submit a notice of termination if their mine is closed. 

Log in to MyTax to submit an application for registration

How to file an excise duty registration notice in MyTax 

Parties concerned by the obligation to obtain the registration 

Who is liable to pay the tax?

Tax on mined minerals must be paid by the party that has mined the mineral and is, under the Mining Act, required have a permit for mining. The tax concerns companies and other mining operators that have, or should have, the permit.   The taxpayer is typically a mining company having a permit issued by Tukes, the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency.

Fiscal liability for the tax lies with the company that carried out the mining unless its permit gets transferred to another party before feeding the mined metal ore into a concentration process. If a permit for mining is transferred, the transferee becomes the party liable for the tax.

When and how to pay the tax?

Mining operators need to submit the tax return and pay the tax on their initiative for every tax period – the calendar year – by the general due date of self-assessed taxes in March. The returns, providing specific data separately of each active mine, are submitted in MyTax  for the Finnish Tax Administration.

Example: For the 2025 tax period, taxpayers liable to pay mined minerals tax must submit their tax returns and pay the tax by 12 March 2026.

All mining companies and other operators that have a mining operator registration must submit a tax return for every tax period even if no activities were conducted.

How to file and pay excise duty (go to Regular taxpayers)

Excise duty instructions for completing an excise duty return

Calculating the tax on metal ores

Metal ores include silver, gold, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, lithium, nickel, lead, palladium, platinum, uranium and zinc. The metal ores are listed in the Annex to the Act on Mined Minerals Tax.

The tax on metal ores is based on the metal content of the mined mineral and the taxable value of the metal. The tax is assessed based on the time when the taxpayer feeds the mined mineral to the concentration process for the first time. The tax is payable on mined minerals that are recovered or produced in the mine in question. 

The tax on metal ores is 2.5% of the taxable value of the metal that the mineral contains.

The value depends on international market quotes and on other factors.  Price details affecting the taxable value are defined by a Government Decree. The Tax Administration lists the taxable values for each year at the start of the year. The values are based on the previous year’s quoted prices.  The Tax Administration’s official decision on the values is posted on the tax.fi website by 1 February. 

Tax on industrial minerals 

The tax on industrial minerals is paid based on the volume mined. The tax is assessed based on the time when the mined mineral is brought to the surface.

The tax on other mined minerals is €0.60 per tonne of ore or industrial mineral.

Tax must also be paid on mined ore or industrial mineral that contains any of the industrial minerals listed above and that is recovered in the concentration process. In this case, the volumes of metal (silver, gold, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, lithium, nickel, lead, palladium, platinum, uranium and zinc) contained in the ore or industrial mineral are subtracted from the volume of mined ore or industrial mineral.

Mining side streams are not subject to tax

Mined mineral is not subject to tax if it is from a mine where the mineral in question is not recovered or produced and if it is also not delivered elsewhere to be recovered or produced.

If the mineral is recovered later, however, it will be subject to tax.

Transferral of a mining permit

If a party transfers its mining permit to another party, the transferee must pay tax on mined minerals. Any such metal ores mined by previous permit holders that are brought to the surface or fed into the concentration process for the first time after the transfer of the permit are subject to tax.  

In addition, the new holder of the permit must submit an application to the Tax Administration for registration before mining begins or before deliveries to the concentration process begin. The previous holder, in turn, is required to submit a notice indicating that its registration information is changed as the permit is relinquished.

Revenues go to municipalities and the State

  Municipalities where the mines are located are entitled to 30% of the revenue from the tax on mined minerals, whereas 70% belongs to the State of Finland. The revenue is forwarded to the municipalities of location.  

If a mine spans across municipal borders so that the mine is located in more than one municipality, the revenues to be remitted are shared, based on surface areas, by the municipalities concerned. Municipality of location and area are determined in accordance with the legally valid permit as referred to by the Mining Act.  Any auxiliary areas to the mine are left out of the calculations for the tax revenue to be remitted.  

Read more:

• Detailed guidance: “Taxes on mined minerals” — Kaivosmineraaliverotus (guidance available in Finnish and Swedish)
• “Act on Mined Minerals Tax” — Kaivosmineraaliverolaki (314/2023) English translation
  
• Tax Administration’s official decision on taxable values  (guidance available in Finnish and Swedish)