Reader opinion The possibility of a national defense tax needs to be explored

Opinion|Reader’s opinion

Finland independence ultimately rests on the Defense Forces. Its cornerstone is reservists and men who perform military service in their youth. However, the proportion of young people in the whole age group who have completed military service has progressively decreased. Currently, about a third of men fail to perform military service.

This trend cannot continue indefinitely. It is unfair and morally unsustainable for part of the age group to spend 6 to 12 months of their youth performing military service and to commit to defending also citizens who fail to perform their service. On the other hand, it is not in the interests of the Defense Forces that ill-suited or ill-motivated persons are forced into military service.

Both Conservative and downtown youth have suggested that the issue be addressed through taxation. Jussi Niinistö has also proposed a tax-based incentive during his ministerial term. The incentive can be implemented by reducing the taxation of conscripts or, alternatively, by requiring non-conscripts to pay a “national defense tax”. Such a model is in use in Switzerland, whose defense, like in Finland, is based on conscription and a reserve.

Whatever the reasons for not doing so, the current trend is unsustainable and unequal. It is up to politicians to develop a fair solution.

Antti Oksanen

Reserve Captain, Helsinki

Reader opinions are speeches written by HS readers, selected and delivered by HS’s editorial staff. You can leave a comment or read the principles of writing at www.hs.fi/kirjtamielipidekirjoitus/.