Uniarts Helsinki: Weakening tax incentives jeopardises the funding base of higher education institutions
In principle, Uniarts Helsinki regards the objectives of the government proposal to reform the donation deduction as positive but warns that limiting the tax deductibility of large donations may weaken universities’ fundraising and the diversity of education.
In its draft, the Ministry of Finance proposes that the maximum amount of the donation deduction for natural persons would be limited to 167,000 euros per year. According to Uniarts Helsinki, such a restriction may weaken the impact of large donations and reduce the motivation of donors.
“In many cases, large donations have enabled significant initiatives and new educational projects – especially in fields where public funding is limited and volumes are small,” Uniarts Helsinki notes in its statement.
Uniarts Helsinki supports the view expressed by the Council of Rectors of Finnish Universities (Unifi) that tax policy must be predictable and long-term and support higher education institutions’ opportunities to acquire private funding.
Private donations play a special role in funding education and research in rare fields of art. In these areas, public funding is often scarce, even though their importance to society is great. Donations enable the long-term development and renewal of these fields.
“Part of Uniarts Helsinki’s teaching and research is focused on rare fields of art, and preserving them as part of the Finnish higher education is socially significant but financially vulnerable,” Uniarts Helsinki’s statement notes.
Uniarts Helsinki supports extending the donation deduction to capital income and lowering the minimum so that even small donations, such as monthly donations, would be deductible. Such measures can lower the threshold for people to donate and strengthen the culture of donating on a broader scale.
The university hopes that the legislative reform will build a stable and motivating foundation for private individuals to support the Finnish higher education sector in the future, as well.
Read Uniarts Helsinki’s comment in full in Finnish on the Lausuntopalvelu.fi website.