![To those who have lived in Finland it is very well known fact that talking about your salary or income […]](https://www.puhutaan-suomea.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/euro_coin-600x300.jpg "The Finnish money paradox – highest incomes in 2012")
To those who have lived in Finland it is very well known fact that talking about your salary or income in general is a taboo. However (and this is the paradox), every year in October the tax office will make public the earnings of every single individual! There’s even a newspaper for it called Veropörssi.
Today all the newspapers are full of articles discussing the incomes of various public figures in Finland (who’s income increased / decreased, who had the highest “mätkyt”, and so on…)
Here’s a list of people with highest total income in 2013 (hs.fi): Top 100 Finns with highest income in 2012
To make the most out of this, here some tax vocabulary:
vero = tax
mätkyt (slang., pl.) = (syn.: jäännösvero) residual tax (extra money to be paid later because declared income was smaller than actual income)
tulo = income
ansiotulo = earned income (usually salary income)
pääomatulo = capital income (e.g. from dividends)
veroprosentti = tax percentage
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