The year 2021 will bring new increases in the prices of public services in Finland.
The Ministry of the Interior has issued a decree on fees charged by the police. For example, the prices of passports and identity cards will rise. The decree will enter into force on 1 January 2021.
The government justifies the need to increase due to the fall in revenue from these services during the coronavirus crisis:
"The coronavirus pandemic, which began in 2020, and the related restrictive measures have had a negative impact on the number of licences granted by the police and the revenues derived from them. The number of passports issued has decreased most significantly. Due to this decrease and rising printing costs, the fee charged for a passport will increase next year. Last year, the prices of passports and identity cards were lowered," the Ministry of the Interior said.
The fee for a passport applied in person will rise from 51 to 58 euros. The price difference to a passport applied electronically will remain the same and therefore the fee for a passport applied electronically will rise to 52 euros. According to law, licensing activity based on fees must correspond to the costs of the activity.
Due to the increase in printing costs, the fee for identity cards will increase by 1 euro, with one exception. The price of an identity card applied in person will rise from 54 to 55. The price of an identity card applied electronically will rise from 48 to 49 euros.
If the applications for an identity card and passport are submitted together, the identity card will be 8 euros cheaper.
The prices of passports for veterans of Finnish wars and participants in mine clearance will remain unchanged.
New fee for business license in firearms trade
The Police Board will introduce a new processing fee for the amendment notification of the holder of the firearms trade permit. The processing fee is 70 euros, which corresponds to the processing fee for the amendment notification in the security sector.
The fee is a result of an amendment to the Firearms Act. The amendment to the Firearms Act, which entered into force in 2019, introduced additional reporting obligations for business license holders. The processing fee corresponds to the processing fee for the amendment notification in the security sector.
According to the Act, the holder of a firearms trade permit must submit an amendment notification to the Police Board in case of:
- Change in name or business name or legal form of company, opening and closure of a business establishment, change in the conditions or location of storage facilities, opening of a new storage facility, closure of a storage facility, or change in the address of the business establishment.
- Changes concerning persons in the company’s administrative bodies, managing director, partners in a general partnership and general partners in a limited partnership.
- Discontinuation or suspension of operations for a period longer than one month.
- Continuing the operations after the suspension referred to in item 3.
The processing fee would not apply to a notification on discontinuation or suspension of operations referred to in item 3.
