Articles containing the keyword 'forest taxation'

In this paper, different approaches and results concerning forest tax design are reviewed. In particular, comparisons are made between Scandinavian approaches, which rely on the two-period model, and North American approaches, which largely rely on the Faustmann model. Existing work is critically evaluated according to several stylized facts that are common among forest taxation problems. These include the second-best forest policy environment, joint production of public and private forest goods, the dynamic nature of forest capital, public and private ownership, competition between forest and non-forest sectors, and global policy constraints on taxation design. The gaps in addressing stylized facts are used to motivate new research directions. Problems and appropriate public finance literature are identified for investigating forest tax policy under government budget constraints, fiscal federalism, dynamic forest tax design, open economy forest tax policy, and econometric studies of reform. One conclusion reached from discussing future research is that two period and dynamic models will continue to prove useful in analysing taxation design from the government's perspective.

• Amacher, E-mail: ga@mm.unknown

In this study, logistic regression and neural networks were used to predict non-industrial private forests (NIPF) landowners’ choice of forest taxation basis. The main frame of reference of the study was the Finnish capital taxation reform of 1993. As a consequence of the reform, landowners were required to choose whether to be taxed according to site-productivity or realized-income during the coming transition period of thirteen years.

The most important factor affecting the landowners’ choice of taxation basis was the harvest rate during the transition period, i.e. the chosen timber management strategy. Furthermore, the estimated personal marginal tax rate and the intention to cut timber during next three years affected the choice. The descriptive landowner variables did not have any marked effect on the choice of forest taxation basis.

On average, logistic regression predicted 71% of the choices correctly; the corresponding figure for neural networks was 63%. In both methods, the choice of site-productivity taxation was predicted more accurately than the choice of realized-income taxation. An increase in the number of model variable did not significantly improve the results of neural networks and logistic regression.

• Pesonen, E-mail: mp@mm.unknown
• Kettunen, E-mail: ak@mm.unknown
• Räsänen, E-mail: pr@mm.unknown

Certain trends in the sales behaviour of private non-industrial forest owners suggest that the forest industries have to rely on a raw material supply much less than the allowable cut. This paper deals with several factors responsible for the change in sales behaviour during the last 20–25 years. These changes are caused by social change, a multi-face process which is led by industrialization. It is manifested in the increasing division of labour, more pronounced strive for efficiency, change in social values for the benefit of the adoption of innovations and thus of further changes.

It has become more common than previously to borrow money instead of selling timber. An incentive for doing so is provided by the increased progression of income tax scales which makes it more profitable than earlier to substitute a loan for timber sales with a view to reduce the amount of taxes. In 1977, the real value of the farmers’ debts was 1.7 times as large as in 1970. Inflation provides a further incentive to borrow money rather than to sell timber, because it tends to reduce debts, whereas a growing stock keeps increasing without affecting the property taxation, maintaining its real unit value.

Certain forestry policy measures conductive to increasing the forest owner’s willingness to sell timber are suggested. Among the most promising seems to be an adjustment of the present area-based yield taxation so as to take into account the age class distribution of the growing stock.

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

• Riihinen, E-mail: pr@mm.unknown

In dealing with the effectiveness of forest taxation reform as a means of economic policy, the paper starts by recalling certain objectives of taxation, as well as the effect on aggregate demand of taxation in general. The effect of forest taxation depends on such factors as (1) whether the woodland owner has a regular income from a source other than forestry; (2) the system of taxation (whether taxation of actual stumpage revenue or of area-based yield); (3) the progression of taxation; and (4) the woodland owner’s income level.

The problem is illustrated by an example taken from Finland, where forestry revenue is taxed on the basis of area-based yield. A shift to taxation of actual stumpage revenue, as is proposed, is assumed. The effectiveness of this change is studied in terms of how far the assumed change is consistent with the objectives of the national economy. It is assumed that a shift to taxation of actual stumpage revenue would cause a decline in roundwood supply. A sensitivity analysis is then applied to detect the effect on tax revenue and national income of the tax reform. It is likely that a 10% decrease in fellings would bring about a reduction of tax revenue which would not be compensated for by the more perfect exposure of forestry income to taxation brought by the reform. The effect on investment, production, employment, differences in individual and regional income, and on the international balance of payments also disfavour the suggested change.

• Riihinen, E-mail: pr@mm.unknown

The paper evaluates the effect of the change in the forest taxation laws which came into force in January 1977 on the value of the taxable cubic metre in each commune, a measure of the mean timber price. The taxable cubic metre is taken into include timber assortments corresponding to the mean planned cut for the area, which are then assessment at their mean local stumpage prices. Account is also taken of the mean costs involved in forestry, which increase from the south of Finland to the north.

The new principles of taxation, based on data from the V and VI National Forest Inventories, give higher values for the taxable cubic metre, and thus heavier taxation, in the Southern Finland, largely by allowing for a higher proportion of saw logs than previously, and lower values, an easing of taxation, in the north.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

• Häkkilä, E-mail: mh@mm.unknown

There is no clear picture in Finland of how big the revenues are that the State and the local authorities receive from taxation for the part of primary forestry. Conception of taxation varies from 100% to 50%. The paper presents a comparison between the gross income from timber sales as determined according to the method used at the Central Statistics Bureau and the net revenues as calculated on the basis of forest fee.

At 1920s area taxation was introduced in forest taxation. The system is based on forest types and their timber production capacity. According to the principles of area taxation, no tax is paid for overcuts, whereas timber capital savings should be paid for.

According to the calculations of this study, in 1958–62 the gross income from timber sales was about 506 million Fmk annually in Southern Finland, the costs involved in timber production about 437 million Fmk, and the annual taxable income 231 million Fmk. In the period more valuable timber assortments were harvested than those for which taxes were paid according to the old regulations.

Half a century ago, area taxation was a system suited to its purpose. Now, however, forestry is in the hands of another generation, and accounting has been introduced in practical agriculture and forestry. Therefore, a taxation system based on the real income from timber growing should be introduced. The transition period could even be relatively short. It seems probable that a forest owner does not sell timber at a time when this would be required by silvicultural aspects in order to avoid income taxation, he should have to be present an acceptable working plan.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

• Lappalainen, E-mail: al@mm.unknown

The Finnish Government appointed a committee in 1959 to study the drawbacks of the present system of forest taxation, and to make recommendations for their elimination. It was not within the Committee’s terms of reference to decide whether the present taxation procedure, which is based on assessment per unit of area, should be replaced entirely by another system.

The committee made several proposals to mitigate the hardships entailed in the collective nature of Finnish forest taxation. It also proposed tax relief for areas which are to be the main target of forest improvement work. Among the other recommendations of the committee, can be mentioned simplification of the taxation in Northern Finland by having only two yield classes for that region.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

• Metsäverokomitea, E-mail: –

A committee was appointed in 1940 to prepare a proposal for reform of forest taxation. The taxation based on net income of forestry was considered to have limitations, and the actual net income had been observed to be markedly higher than the income that was used in taxation.

The report describes in detail the principles and shortcomings of taxation used since 1922. These include inaccuracies in the forest areas of a woodland estate, and weaknesses in classification of forest land and demand zones. The committee suggests several improvements in calculating the taxable income, which in the new calculations is based on yield on terms of value.

The article includes an abstract in German.

• Metsäverotuksen uudistamiskomitea, E-mail: –

The government of Finland appointed a commission to study how the work of forest owners’ associations could be promoted. In 1936 there was 232 forest owners’ associations in Finland. They had 20,632 members, who owned 1,841,304 hectares of forests. The owners of large forest holdings were overpresented among the members. The associations together with forestry boards were important actors in increasing the productivity of the private forests.

The commission concluded that rational forest management should be extended to all private forests, which could be best achieved through the forest owners’ associations. It suggested that the membership should remain voluntary, and that the financing of the associations would be arranged by self-taxation of the forest owners. The so called forest management tax should be devoted to the local forest owners’ associations. Also the state should continue to support the associations. Both state and the smallest forest holdings would be released from the forest management tax. The companies, estates and other large forest owners that employ their own forest management staff would pay a quarter of the tax. The tax could be based on the area of the forest, income of the timber sold or a combination of these. The commission suggested a forest management law, which would deal with the forest management tax and the forest owners’ associations.
The PDF includes a summary in Swedish and English.

• Metsänhoidon edistämiskomitea, E-mail: mhek@mm.unknown

Silva Fennica issue 42 includes presentations held in professional development courses, arranged for foresters working in public administration in 1936. The presentations focus on practical issues in forest management and administration, especially in regional level. The education was arranged by Forest Service

This presentation describes the principles of forest taxation in Finland in 1930s.

• Ilvessalo, E-mail: yi@mm.unknown

Due to the nature of forest taxation in Finland, there has been no information available on the amount of tax paid by forestry or of taxable forestry income. The main reason for this is the close connection of taxation of forestry and agriculture, which has made it difficult and expensive to separate the information of the sectors. This study determined the amount of taxable forestry mathematically based on statistics on the taxable forest areas in each tax zone on a county level.

The article concludes that the stumpage has been considerably higher than the taxable income in 1950-1953. In 1951 only 18.5% of the income received as stumpage was taxed, but in 1953 the proportion was 82.8%. In average 45% of the stumpage amount had become subject to taxation.

The Acta Forestalia Fennica issue 61 was published in honour of professor Eino Saari’s 60th birthday.

The PDF includes a summary in English.

• Selin, E-mail: ls@mm.unknown

In Finland the state has to pay local government taxes and certain connected smaller taxes, such as church and land taxes and forest management fees, on its forest property. On the other hand, the state tax on income and property is not collected, as the corresponding amount goes to the state in the form of a state forestry surplus.

It has been stated that if the state should pay similar taxes as companies do, the income of state forests would be small. The author has calculated the different taxes if the state forests would be a company or an individual tax-payer. As a company the income and property taxes would amount to 1,251 million marks and as a company to 730 million mark when the year 1952 is used as a reference. In drawing up the balance sheet for state forestry, local government taxes and other similar charges have been taken into account as expenses. By comparing the surplus with the calculated state tax payable, the state forestry would give a surplus, after deduction of taxes, of 1,846 million marks as an individual and 2,367 million marks as a company. State forestry would thus have been able to pay state income and property taxes from its surplus.

The Acta Forestalia Fennica issue 61 was published in honour of professor Eino Saari’s 60th birthday.

The PDF includes a summary in Engilsh.

• Piha, E-mail: ap@mm.unknown

In Finland the state has to pay local government taxes and certain connected smaller taxes, such as church and land taxes and forest management fees, on its forest property. On the other hand, the state tax on income and property is not collected, as the corresponding amount goes to the state in the form of a state forestry surplus.

It has been stated that if the state should pay similar taxes as companies do, the income of state forests would be small. The author has calculated the different taxes as if the state forestry would be a company or an individual tax-payer. As a company the income and property taxes would amount to 1,251 million marks and as a company 730 million marks using the data of 1952. In drawing up the balance sheet for state forestry, local government taxes and other similar charges have been taken into account as expenses. By comparing the surplus with the calculated state tax payable, the state forestry would give a surplus, after deduction of taxes, of 1,846 million marks as an individual and 2,367 million marks as a company. State forestry would thus have been able to pay state income and property taxes from its surplus.

The Acta Forestalia Fennica issue 61 was published in honour of professor Eino Saari’s 60th birthday.

The PDF includes a summary in Engilsh.

• Osara, E-mail: no@mm.unknown

In 1926 the state of Finland payed taxes to the local municipalities from a half of the net returns the state forest and state owned wood manufacturing industry produced. The taxes payed by the forest administration to the municipalities totaled 4.75 million Finnish marks. The state forests are located mostly in Northern Finland, thus the relative amount of municipalities that get taxes from the state forestry were higher in the north. The municipalities that benefited most from the tax revenues from the state were Savukoski, Pudasjärvi, Suojärvi, Rovaniemi, Taivalkoski, Kuhmoniemi, Turtola, Pielisjärvi, Ilomantsi, Korpiselkä and Suistamo. About half of the municipalities (264) got tax revenues from state forestry. However, if this tax revenue was removed, it would raise local tax rate in relatively few municipalities. it has been proposed that state should pay taxes from the state forests on the same principles as the private forests. To move to area based taxation in the state forests would, however, increase the taxation of the state five-fold. The taxes from the state forests are not appropriate way to support the poorest municipalities. Better suited would be, for instance, state subsidies. Therefore, the taxes payed from the state forestry to municipalities should be abandoned.

The volume 34 of Acta Forestalia Fennica is a jubileum publication of professor Aimo Kaarlo Cajander. The PDF includes a summary in German.

• Lakari, E-mail: ol@mm.unknown

The effects and relative efficiency of alternative forest taxes are analysed theoretically. The Fisherian two-period model of consumption, savings and timber harvesting is extended by incorporating the management intensity decision and deriving the concept of long-run timber supply. The effects of lump-sum (site productivity), realized income (yield) and ad valorem property taxes on short-run timber supply, management intensity, and long-run timber supply are established. As the core of the study, the alternative taxes are compared in order to determine the appropriate forest tax regime in terms of production efficiency. The efficiency criterion generally requires that the excess burden of taxation at any given tax revenue should be kept to a minimum. The study distinguishes between an initially undistorted economy and an economy with pre-existing distortions due to capital income taxation (interest charge deductions). When the effects on forest management decisions of forest and capital income taxes are considered as a whole, a neutral forest taxation is no longer efficient. The non-timber benefits of a forest are incorporated to examine the robustness of the tax results with respect to the objective function. Finally, forest tax issues specific to Finland are considered, and administrational and equity aspects are discussed.

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

• Ovaskainen, E-mail: vo@mm.unknown

Two operative forest site class estimation methods utilizing satellite images have been developed for forest income taxation purposes. For this, two pixelwise classification methods and two post-processing methods for estimating forest site fertility are compared using different input data. The pixelwise methods are discriminant analysis, based on generalized squared distances, and logistic regression analysis. The results of pixelwise classifications are improved either with mode filtering within forest stands or assuming a Markov random field type dependence between pixels. The stand delineation is obtained by using ordinary segmentation techniques. Optionally, known stand boundaries given by the interpreter can be applied. The spectral values of images are corrected using a digital elevation model of the terrain. Some textural features are preliminary tested in classification. All methods are justified by using independent test data.

A test of the practical methods was carried out and a cost-benefit analysis computed. The estimated cost saving in site quality classification varies from 14% to 35% depending on the distribution of the site classes of the area. This means a saving of about 2.0–4.5 million FMK per year in site fertility classification for income taxation purposes. The cost savings would rise even to 60% if that version of the method were chosen where field checking is totally omitted. The classification accuracy at the forest holding level would still be similar to that of traditional method.

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

• Tomppo, E-mail: et@mm.unknown

The goal-setting in forest policy and the means available for achieving the desired goal of forest policy are examined in this study. Examination of the goal is done using a macromodel of a closed economy. In the model GNP is assumed to be linearly dependent on the supply of raw wood. The model is used to derive the marginal conditions of the optimum equilibrium forestry with respect to the growing stock and the silviculture. The effect on the forest owners’ behaviour of the following means are examined: the taxation of ”pure income” from forestry, the taxation of income from selling raw wood, unit sales taxation and ad valorem sales taxation of forestry and corresponding sales subsidies, the support of silvicultural investments and the channelling of income from wood sales into silvicultural investments. The marginal conditions have been defined according to the maximum principle. An empirical study concerning the raw wood market in the case of softwood logs, and silvicultural investments in the case of young stand tending, has been carried out on the basis of the theoretical examination.

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

• Vehkamäki, E-mail: sv@mm.unknown

• Mutanen, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Joensuu Research Centre, P.O. Box 68, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland E-mail: antti.mutanen@metla.fi
• Toppinen, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Joensuu Research Centre, P.O. Box 68, FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland E-mail: at@nn.fi