Apteekkiverolaki
Purpose
The Pharmacy Tax Act imposes a progressive turnover-based special tax on pharmacies payable to the state.
Analysis
The pharmacy tax is a sector-specific turnover-based surcharge (6.10–11.20% progressive) imposed on no other industry. It taxes revenue, not profit, penalizing growth and hitting even loss-making pharmacies. The tax exists because the state regulates medicine prices and margins via the medicine tariff, then claws back part of the margin through this special tax – a roundabout mechanism that will be replaced by directly lowering the tariff, reducing medicine prices for consumers. The progressive structure discourages scale efficiencies: larger pharmacies pay disproportionately more. Revenue is approximately €200M/year. No other EU country levies an equivalent progressive turnover-based special tax on pharmacies. The correct fix is to lower the medicine tariff and repeal this tax – achieving the same state revenue while lowering consumer drug prices.
Verdict reasoning
The pharmacy tax is a sector-specific turnover-based surcharge (6.10–11.20% progressive) imposed on no other industry. It taxes revenue, not profit, penalizing growth and hitting even loss-making pharmacies. The tax exists because the state regulates medicine prices and margins via the medicine tariff, then claws back part of the margin through this special tax – a roundabout mechanism that will be replaced by directly lowering the tariff, reducing medicine prices for consumers. The progressive structure discourages scale efficiencies: larger pharmacies pay disproportionately more. Revenue is approximately €200M/year. No other EU country levies an equivalent progressive turnover-based special tax on pharmacies. The correct fix is to lower the medicine tariff and repeal this tax – achieving the same state revenue while lowering consumer drug prices.
Other healthcare laws
Analysis by Claude Opus 4.6 AI. Estimates are indicative.