Electricity tax in Finland 2026: what you pay and why
Electricity tax is in every kilowatt-hour whatever your contract. From April 2026 it rose when the security-of-supply fee increased.
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Electricity tax is an excise duty that the network operator bills on every kilowatt-hour delivered and passes to the state. According to the Tax Administration’s table, from 1 April 2026 household tax class I electricity tax is 2.24 cents and the security-of-supply fee 0.085 cents per kilowatt-hour before VAT, 2.325 cents in total. With 25.5% VAT a consumer pays 2.9179 c/kWh on every kilowatt-hour. Before April the fee was 0.013 cents, so the tax rose by 0.090 c/kWh per kilowatt-hour. A flat using 2,000 kilowatt-hours a year pays about €58 in electricity tax, and an electrically heated 18,000 kWh house €525. The tax is the same on spot and fixed contracts and at every hour, so timing your use does not change it.
How much electricity tax do you pay a year?
Electricity tax and supply security fee per year
€145.89
| Before VAT | €116.25 |
| VAT on the tax | €29.64 |
| Per kilowatt-hour | 2.9179 c/kWh |
Electricity tax rates 2026
| Tax class | Electricity tax | Security-of-supply fee | Total before VAT | Total with VAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I (households, services) | 2.240 c/kWh | 0.085 c/kWh | 2.325 c/kWh | 2.9179 c/kWh |
| II (industry etc.) | 0.050 c/kWh | 0.085 c/kWh | 0.135 c/kWh | 0.1694 c/kWh |
Electricity tax has two parts: the electricity tax proper (energy tax) and the security-of-supply fee. Both are set in the Act on excise duty on electricity and certain fuels, and the Tax Administration publishes the current rates in its tax table. The standard VAT rate is 25.5%, according to the Tax Administration.
How much tax you pay a year
| Annual consumption | Before 1 Apr 2026 | From 1 Apr 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,000 kWh | €56.55 | €58.36 | €1.81 |
| 5,000 kWh | €141.38 | €145.89 | €4.52 |
| 18,000 kWh | €508.95 | €525.22 | €16.26 |
The April change is small for a household: a few tens of cents a year in a flat, a few euros in an electrically heated house. Electricity tax is still a significant part of the bill. When the spot price is low, the tax can exceed the price of the energy itself.
What does transfer cost a year?
General transfer per year, 3 × 25 A
€620
| Transfer fees | €263 |
| Basic fees | €357 |
| Average per kilowatt-hour | 12.39 c/kWh |
Electricity tax in the all-in price
The all-in electricity price has four parts: energy, retailer margin, transfer fee and electricity tax. The tax is the only one that is exactly the same everywhere in Finland. Transfer varies by operator and energy by the hour, but a class I consumer pays 2.9179 c/kWh on every kilowatt-hour regardless of where they live or which contract they have.
On a day when the spot price is two cents per kilowatt-hour, electricity tax is almost one and a half times the energy price. On an expensive winter day, when spot reaches tens of cents, its share of the all-in price is small. The home page calculator shows the tax separately in every quarter hour.
Why the tax is on the network bill
The law makes the network operator that delivers electricity for consumption liable for the tax. The operator knows how much each site has used and bills the tax with transfer. Switching retailer therefore does not affect the tax, which appears on the transfer bill as its own line or within a tax-inclusive transfer price.
If your operator’s price list shows a tax-inclusive transfer fee, it is the sum of transfer fee and electricity tax. Elenia’s, Tampereen Sähköverkko’s and Savon Voima’s price lists, for instance, give this combined price ready-made. Outages or a change of operator do not affect the tax rate.
Electricity tax and your own generation
According to the Tax Administration, electricity that a small producer generates and uses itself is tax-free, among other cases, provided generation stays within the legal limit. Solar power produced and used in the same home at the same moment does not pass through the grid, so neither electricity tax nor transfer is paid on it. Surplus sold to the grid is not taxable consumption for the household either. That makes own generation worth more than the spot price alone.
Changes in future years
The tax rate can change with the state budget. Always check the current rate on the Tax Administration’s electricity tax page. This site updates the tax in its calculators as soon as a new table is published, and every page uses the same value. Work out your whole bill in the electricity bill calculator and see how tax compares with the transfer fee.