"Fair would be a single percentage no matter what the income. Giving higher amounts just because of income isn't fair. It's only fair to your liberal, I need to find more money for the state, sensibilities. It's not fair in a democracy where everyone should be equal.."
#18 | POSTED BY BOAZ
Are you contradicting yourself? A single percentage, based on income is what's being applied. They figure out yearly income, then tally up the fine based on how many days of that income that should be lost, due to the severity of the offense. So a 3 day fine for a bus driver is based on 3 days pay, and a 3 day fine for a Nokia executive is based on 3 days pay.
In fact, the Finnish "day fine" system, also in use in some other Scandinavian countries, dates to the 1920s, when fines based on income were instituted for all manner of lesser crimes, such as petty theft and assault, and helped greatly reduce the prison population.
The fines are calculated based on half an offender's daily net income, with some consideration for the number of children under his or her roof and a deduction deemed to be enough to cover basic living expenses, currently 255 euros per month.
Then, that figure is multiplied by the number of days of income the offender should lose, according to the severity of the offense.
Mr. Kuisla, a betting man who parlayed his winnings into a real estate empire, was clocked speeding near the Seinajoki airport. Given the speed he was going, Mr. Kuisla was assessed eight days. His fine was then calculated from his 2013 income, 6,559,742 euros, or more than $7 million at current exchange rates.