Financial support for household electricity bills in spring 2023
The aim of the legislative amendment is to support low-income households that have difficulties in paying their electricity bills. Financial support for electricity will be available to households that cannot, due to their low income, fully make use of the tax credit for household expenses to deduct their electricity bills.
Being paid the support will require a monthly electricity bill that exceeds a threshold of EUR 400. Households will be paid financial support for costs of electricity consumed at their permanent residence. The amount paid for electricity transmission will not be taken into account.
People applying for support can receive 60 per cent of the amount of their monthly electricity bill that exceeds EUR 400. A maximum amount of EUR 1,500 per monthly electricity bill will be taken into account. This being the case, the maximum amount of financial support will be EUR 660 per month. Financial support will be paid for four months, so the maximum amount of support for the entire period will be EUR 2,640.
Support will only be paid for electricity consumption at the permanent residence of the household itself. This being the case, children will not be paid support for electricity consumption at their parents’ permanent residence, for example. In situations in which a household has more than one permanent residence at the same time, support will only be paid for one point of use.
The support will be granted based on an application to the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela), and it will be paid on the basis of electricity used between 1 January and 30 April 2023. The support will be tax free for its recipients.
The Act will enter into force on 1 January 2023.
Inquiries:
Mikko Horko, Ministerial Adviser, [email protected]