On August 22, Siim Kiisler submitted an information request to the Ministry of Finance, asking on what calculations the tax increases in the coalition agreement were based.

"This should be public information for the entire society," Kiisler told ERR.

However, the ministry did not release this data to him, justifying its decision by stating that the information was classified as for internal use only. In addition, the Ministry of Finance classified both Kiisler's information request and the response to it in its document registry for 75 years.

The only public information available in the document registry is that on August 22, Kiisler submitted the request to the ministry, which had until August 29 to respond. A week late, Margus Täht, an analyst from the ministry's fiscal policy department, provided a response. The content of both letters is classified until September 5, 2099.

"What is so secret about a fact that an opposition politician wants to know what calculations the coalition agreement is based on? Why does this need to be hidden for the next 75 years?" Kiisler asked.

He pointed out that some of the data he requested has been slowly released to the public. For instance, there has been talk of [tax revenue of] €300 million and €200 million in the case of corporate income tax, while Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi (Reform) recently wrote on social media that the outcome turned out to be lower than initially expected.

"Why all this secrecy? Just be honest about what figure you started with and what you're working with now," Kiisler remarked.

He added that keeping the public in the dark like this is a clear example of closed governance.

Kiisler argued that withholding the data from the public removes the possibility of an informed public debate about how to find cost-saving measures instead of increasing the tax burden. By presenting the revenue side of the tax increases along with the state budget at the last minute, the government can claim it is too late to make any changes.

He also found it incomprehensible that the reason for withholding the data was that it was classified as an internal document, considering that estimates regarding the tax increases were shared with representatives of the three coalition parties.

According to the Ministry of Finance, an internal use marking (AK) was added to the information request in accordance with the law.

"Siim Kiisler approached the ministry as a private individual," explained Geili Heinmaa from the ministry's communications department, noting that this was indicated by the fact that the request was submitted via a web form from Kiisler's personal email address, with "private individual" listed under the organization field.

"Requests and responses from private individuals are subject to the usual rules under Section 35(1)(12) of the Public Information Act," Heinmaa added.

Section 35 of the Public Information Act stipulates that the holder of information –
in this case, the Ministry of Finance – is required to classify as internal-use information any data containing personal information if allowing access would significantly harm the privacy of the individual concerned.

ERR has previously reported on the tendency of public authorities to actively classify documents, even though the law states that information intended for general use should be accessible to all.

State Secretary Taimar Peterkop has stated that the everyday application of the Public Information Act has strayed from the law's intended purpose, which is to ensure that everyone has access to information intended for public use.

Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise has pointed out that access to information intended for public use is guaranteed by the Public Information Act, which is based on the principle that public information should be accessible by default, with internal-use classifications being an exception

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!