Inquiry Regarding Bank Tax (no. 673)
Session: 15th Riigikogu, 5th sitting, plenary session
Date: 2025-02-10 17:38
Participating Politicians:
Total Speeches: 32
Membership: 15
Agenda Duration: 45m
AI Summaries: 32/32 Speeches (100.0%)
Analysis: Structured Analysis
Politicians Speaking Time
Politicians
Analysis
Summary
The agenda item concerned a question from Members of the Riigikogu Vadim Belobrovtsev, Aleksandr Tšaplõgin, Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart, Lauri Laats, Vladimir Arhipov and Andrei Korobeinik regarding the introduction of a bank tax in Estonia. The questioners, led by Vadim Belobrovtsev, highlighted the examples of Latvia and Lithuania, where a temporary solidarity tax was introduced on the excessive profits of commercial banks to finance national defense (in Lithuania, receipts of 50–70 million euros were projected for 2025). The questioners asked Prime Minister Kaja Kallas why the Estonian government has decided not to introduce a bank tax, choosing instead to raise consumption taxes and the tax burden on individuals.
Prime Minister Kallas defended the government’s position, emphasizing that Estonia already taxes banks through advance income tax and dividend income tax. She noted that banks paid a total of 250 million euros in profit in 2024, and receipts from banks are projected to total 926 million euros in the state budget for the years 2023–2028. Kallas stressed the importance of legal certainty and predictability of policy, which has helped attract headquarters to Estonia (such as SEB), offering greater benefit in the long term than a temporary profit tax. The opposition (the Centre Party faction) sharply criticized the government's choices, accusing them of stifling the economy and launching a "tax hell," while banks earn the highest return on equity in the Baltics. Critics found that the government has made wrong decisions at the wrong time, burdening ordinary people and the business sector, instead of taxing extraordinary bank profits.
Decisions Made 1
Decisions were not made.
Most Active Speaker
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart (Center Party, left) was one of the most active speakers, sharply criticizing the government's economic policy, calling it a "tax festival" and referring to the Institute for Economic Research's director's assessment that the situation is "criminal." She used three minutes of extra time for her speech.
Esimees Lauri Hussar
AI Summary
Today there are five items on the agenda, and the first of them is a parliamentary inquiry into a bank tax submitted on 9 December last year, the authors of which are Riigikogu members Vadim Belobrovtsev, Aleksandr Chaplygin, Anastasia Kovalenko-Kolvart, Lauri Laats, Vladimir Arhipov, and Andrei Korobeinik, and the presenter will be the Riigikogu member Vadim Belobrovtsev.
Vadim Belobrovtsev
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Vadim Belobrovtsev asks why Estonia does not impose a bank tax like Lithuania and Latvia, considering the funds raised by neighboring countries for security and the rising defense costs, and asks the government for clarification and a position on whether Estonia should consider a similar tax.
Esimees Lauri Hussar
AI Summary
The Speaker asks for the floor in the Riigikogu so that Prime Minister Kristen Michal can respond to the interpellation.
Peaminister Kristen Michal
AI Summary
Prime Minister Kristen Michal said that Estonia will not implement a bank tax like in Lithuania and Latvia, because in 2024 banks paid about 250 million euros in profit (23.5%), 2025 an advance income tax of about 143 million euros is expected, the state emphasizes the importance of legal certainty and attracting headquarters, for example through the SEB example, and in the future there is under consideration a 2% security tax on profits and a 22% dividend income tax and an 18% increase in the advance income tax, with the total package for 2023–2028 projected to be about 926 million euros.
Esimees Lauri Hussar
AI Summary
The Speaker thanks the Prime Minister and announces that questions will be put to him, the first of which will be posed by his colleague Mart Maastik.
Mart Maastik
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
They ask the prime minister how it is possible for Estonian banks to have a 26% income tax, given that Lithuania is imposing an extraordinary income tax and the Estonian economy is declining, and whether banks really have a different income tax system and why.
Peaminister Kristen Michal
AI Summary
In 2024, banks earned approximately €1.065 billion in profit (i.e., about €1.1 billion). Of that, they paid €250 million in income tax, i.e., 23.5%. And banks' contribution to corporate income tax receipts was 26%.
Esimees Lauri Hussar
AI Summary
Chairman Lauri Hussar asks Vadim Belobrovtsev to come onto the stage.
Vadim Belobrovtsev
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
The author of the speech compares the tax policies of banks in Lithuania and Latvia and asks whether Estonia should have introduced the same bank tax or solidarity tax in 2023–2024, taking into account the Euribor fall and the decline in banks' profits.
Peaminister Kristen Michal
AI Summary
Prime Minister Kristen Michal said that Estonia's tax environment and supervision are reliable and predictable; due to the absence of a bank tax, a significant amount flows into the state budget, and together with a favorable business environment and the relocation of the head office of one large bank to Estonia, the future for entrepreneurship is bright.
Esimees Lauri Hussar
AI Summary
The chair called on Lauri Laatsi to take the floor.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats claims that Estonian commercial banks earned a record profit in 2023–2024 as a result of regulation, and the government taxed consumers with consumption taxes, not banks, and he now asks whether those decisions were correct, especially since EURIBOR has fallen and other sectors have suffered.
Peaminister Kristen Michal
AI Summary
Prime Minister Kristen Michal claims that in Estonia it is more reasonable to tax consumption and pollution than to tax income, because this can cover the funds needed for education, for the transition to Estonian-language education, for the armed forces, and for health care, and she adds that taxing banks would provide a substantial portion of the state budget, although historical risks must be considered and one must ask whose burden this funding will actually fall on.
Esimees Lauri Hussar
AI Summary
The chairman, Lauri Hussar, thanks and invites Andrei Korobeinik to take the floor.
Andrei Korobeinik
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Andrei Korobeinik asks Lauri Laats what metrics indicate the Reform Party's economic policy's success, and whether there are concrete goals or if it is pursued purely by faith, based on the premise that statistics show Estonia's economic downturn has the second-longest duration in the world after Haiti.
Peaminister Kristen Michal
AI Summary
Prime Minister Kristen Michal emphasized that the Estonian economy is small and open and depends on the money market and loans, and the idea of a bank tax is not a solution, but the aim is to bring here well-capitalized banks that would provide loans to companies and create jobs.
Esimees Lauri Hussar
AI Summary
Chairman Lauri Hussar asks Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvarti.
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart claims that the war affects Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in the same way, and that Latvia and Lithuania have managed not to let the economy fall for 11 consecutive quarters, and she points out that this remark shows the Centre Party's misunderstanding of the geopolitical situation, but, on the contrary, we understand the situation very well, and she criticizes the legal certainty and a predictable tax system, which is two-faced and affects only banks and leaves ordinary people out, and finally asks whether for them this tax reform is predictable and trustworthy and what to do with people who are currently being squeezed by additional taxes.
Peaminister Kristen Michal
AI Summary
Prime Minister Kristen Michal said that the special status of banks should not be emphasized, and although banks' advance income tax rose to 18% in 2025, there must be tax stability until 2027, and the government must keep this promise.
Esimees Lauri Hussar
AI Summary
Speaker Lauri Hussar thanked the Prime Minister, said that there are no more questions, will open negotiations, and asked the Riigikogu to grant the floor to his colleague Lauri Laats.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats criticized the government for the tax crackdown and tax increases, and argued that the return on equity of Estonia's banks is higher than in neighboring countries, therefore the money should be directed to security and to revitalizing the economy, not raising taxes, and he emphasized the need to make comparisons with Latvia, Lithuania, and Scandinavia.
Esimees Lauri Hussar
AI Summary
Chairman Lauri Hussar says that he clarifies and asks whether extra time is desired.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
This speech focuses only on a two-minute duration.
Esimees Lauri Hussar
AI Summary
The chair, Lauri Hussar, requests two more minutes of extra time.
Lauri Laats
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Lauri Laats notes that the views of the Reform Party, the Social Democrats, and Estonia 200 are different, emphasizes the importance of the Social Democrats' bank tax proposals and of not implementing it, points to six years of unpopularity for the coalition, and confirms that work will continue in the name of a fair society.
Esimees Lauri Hussar
AI Summary
Lauri Hussar thanked Jaak Valge and invited him to perform.
Jaak Valge
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Jaak Valge acknowledges that modern wealth is increasingly generated by financial and speculative transactions, and foreign lending policy, especially from Stockholm, affects Estonia and increases banks' record profits, which is why he calls on the state to adjust its tax policy and implement a bank tax to protect the public's interests.
Esimees Lauri Hussar
AI Summary
The chair thanked and invited his colleague Andrei Korobeiniku to speak next.
Andrei Korobeinik
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
In his speech, Andrei Korobeinik accuses the Reform Party of causing the decline of the Estonian economy and inflation, highlights the stark contrast between banks' large profits and the low real value of living allowances, and states that the coalition's policies hurt the economy more than Russia's war in Ukraine, and calls voters in the next elections to judge the results.
Esimees Lauri Hussar
AI Summary
The Speaker thanks and invites to the Riigikogu's podium the colleague Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvarti, and grants her three minutes of extra time, which she requests.
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart claims that government tax increases and price hikes will deepen the burden on families, calls for taxing banks' windfall profits, and promises to abolish the car tax and temporary tax increases as the Centre Party, and after 2027 the Reform Party coalition will no longer be in power.
Esimees Lauri Hussar
AI Summary
The chair, Lauri Hussar, thanked, informed that there were no requests to speak, and that the prime minister does not wish to take the floor, and closed the negotiations and ended the consideration of today's first question.