Several legislative amendments entered into force in 2025, increasing the rates of income tax, value-added tax, and excise duties. The land tax system was also substantially redesigned, and a motor vehicle tax was introduced.
“Such a pace of change has meant extensive tasks for the tax authority and the rapid development of new solutions,” said Raigo Uukkivi, the Director General of ETCB. “For our part, we have set the goal of creating a system that is as understandable and low-burden as possible for taxpayers,” Uukkivi added.
In 2025, tax revenue amounted to 15.5 billion euros, which is 11% more than the year before. Tax revenue increased primarily due to tax changes, but also thanks to a strong wage base. The largest share of tax revenue came from social tax – a total of 5.1 billion euros, which was 261 million euros more than in 2024.
In the customs field, 2025 was marked by a tenfold increase in goods volumes from Chinese e-commerce platforms and increased attention to trade flows toward Central Asia in order to prevent sanctions evasion. At the end of April, the ETCB was granted the right to conduct both criminal and misdemeanor proceedings in cases of sanctions violations, which has made sanctions control faster and more flexible.
In 2025, the MTA initiated 1,036 misdemeanor proceedings, of which 772 were related to sanctions violations. Violations by private individuals were mostly related to attempts to export cash, electronics, and luxury goods. In the case of companies, the most common violations involved incorrect commodity codes and origin data, as well as concealing the actual destination or origin of goods. Across the entire investigative field, the ETCB referred 110 criminal cases to the prosecutor’s office during the year, involving a total of 223 criminal episodes and 155 suspects.
In the field of development, the focus in 2025 remained on the creation of data-driven reporting solutions. “Today, businesses spend at least five million working hours submitting data in the e-MTA (ETCB´s self-service environment). We are moving toward a solution where, in the near future, data will move in machine-readable form directly between the ETCB and a company’s software solution, thereby freeing up time for both entrepreneurs and accountants from communication with the ETCB,” said Raigo Uukkivi.
The 2025 annual report of the Tax and Customs Board is divided into five chapters: organization, taxation, customs, development, and criminal proceedings. The annual report is available to everyone on the ETCB´s website.
