---
title: "Warren Buffett and taxes | Sami Miettinen | Negotiator 329"
titleOriginal: "Warren Buffett Verot | Sami Miettinen | Neuvottelija 329"
episodeNumber: "329"
guest: "Sami Miettinen"
datePublished: 2025-05-07
duration: "33:40"
youtube: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ"
originalLanguage: "fi"
topics: ["investing_markets","ownership_capital_tax","finnish_economy_policy"]
subtitleMethod: "none"
provenance: "Owner page assembled from YouTube metadata, the neuvottelija.fi episode record and the publisher's own chapter marks, translated one for one; their spacing is irregular and matches the recording. This is a solo episode, so the guest field carries the host. The only Finnish subtitle track is YouTube's automatic one, so no transcript is published here and no English cues were produced. The host states in the episode that the owner-friendly tax changes he welcomes are the ones he promotes professionally as an investment banker, and the long-form write-up in the Neuvottelija AI editions carries that declaration and notes that no cost estimate is given for any of them."
fiCanonical: "https://www.neuvottelija.fi/fi/episodes/603-warren-buffett-verot-miettinen-neuvottelija-329"
canonical: https://www.neuvottelija.com/podcast/episodes/ep329-warren-buffett-verot-sami-miettinen/
---
# Warren Buffett and taxes | Sami Miettinen | Negotiator 329

English subtitles are not available on this page. This is an episode summary, not a curated transcript.

## Chapters

- [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=0s) The Berkshire Hathaway AGM and a visit to Warren Buffett's house
- [01:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=77s) Camera trouble and the new Osmo Pocket 3
- [02:11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=131s) On Berkshire shares, with Heikki Keskiväli as guide
- [03:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=190s) Buffett's house as one of his best investments
- [04:04](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=244s) Berkshire Hathaway the textile company
- [04:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=289s) Wisdom learned from mistakes
- [05:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=306s) Local Omaha businesses and their managers
- [05:34](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=334s) Harry Bottle was Buffett's Mr Wolf
- [06:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=360s) Charlie Munger's role and legacy
- [06:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=383s) Theories about the choice of successor
- [06:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=401s) Valuation levels and purchases
- [06:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=416s) The division of responsibility and the trio
- [07:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=445s) Greg Abel and the earlier candidates
- [07:53](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=473s) Governance and a Churchill comparison
- [08:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=523s) Questions at the AGM, and Jesse Viljanen
- [09:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=543s) Jesse's reaction to the Greg Abel news and the mood at AGM 2025
- [10:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=605s) Stock picks and news from the trip
- [11:12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=672s) Neuvottelija merch and a listener competition?
- [13:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=780s) The government's mid-term review and a visit to Martin Paasi in Parliament
- [13:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=828s) The Castrén & Snellman tax seminar, in line with major owners
- [14:44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=884s) Inheritance tax reform left undone; corporate tax and investment incentives
- [15:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=925s) The 10 per cent cash cap in share exchanges is to be raised
- [16:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=973s) ELTIF and fund structures
- [17:24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=1044s) Limited partnership versus limited company versus SICAV
- [18:21](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=1101s) LP investors in private equity funds and tax treaties
- [18:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=1128s) Foundations as LP investors in future
- [19:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=1153s) Pension reform and criticism of YEL
- [20:09](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=1209s) The clean transition investment credit is being revised
- [20:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=1246s) Inheritance tax reform falls again
- [21:44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=1304s) Gift tax and the position of minors in generational transfers
- [22:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=1334s) Still a poor outlook for the family company model?
- [22:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=1362s) Why Finnish ownership matters
- [23:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=1387s) Episodes with Heikki Keskiväli and Jesse Viljanen to come
- [23:33](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=1413s) Wealth gaps — an American is €370,000 richer than a Finn
- [24:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=1440s) Heikki Keskiväli at Omaha airport before the flight home
- [32:09](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ&t=1929s) Subscribe to the Neuvottelija channel

## Summary

A short solo update episode with two subjects: Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting in Omaha, where the host was in the room when Warren Buffett announced his succession, and a list of clarifications on what the Finnish government's mid-term tax decisions actually produced.

## Omaha

At the meeting on 3 May 2025 the 94-year-old Buffett said he would recommend Greg Abel as chief executive from the end of the year; the board confirmed it effective 1 January 2026, with Buffett continuing as chair. The applause ran so long that Buffett stopped it himself, joking about whether the audience was too pleased.

The most transferable observation is not about succession. Buffett has called buying the textile company Berkshire Hathaway a mistake, and the counter-argument made here is that the listed shell is what made the later large acquisitions possible — and that the mistakes were made with small money early rather than large money late.

## The tax list

What went through: corporate tax from 20 to 18 per cent in 2027; a lower top marginal rate; a higher cash consideration cap in share exchanges, which currently has to stay at ten per cent for the exchange to be tax-neutral; foundations gaining access as limited partners in private equity funds; an easing of the tax treaty requirement for LP investors; and the removal of YEL's automatic estimated earned income for newly founded companies.

What did not: inheritance and gift tax reform along Swedish and Norwegian lines, a broader change to the generational transfer structure, and a funded pension component.

## Declared interest

The host says in the episode that the owner-friendly changes that went through are exactly those he promotes for a living as an investment banker. That is the most honest moment in it, and the reason to read the assessments as a lobbying perspective rather than a neutral one.

## Watch

The recording lives on the Neuvottelija channel: [Warren Buffett Verot | Sami Miettinen | Neuvottelija 329](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n4IlndcIdQ).
A Finnish edition of this episode is published at [www.neuvottelija.fi](https://www.neuvottelija.fi/fi/episodes/603-warren-buffett-verot-miettinen-neuvottelija-329).

## In depth

The Neuvottelija AI editions carry a long-form write-up of this episode, with the Omaha details checked against CNN, CBS and Berkshire's own release, the inheritance and gift tax changes checked against the government's proposal, and two figures corrected:
[English](https://www.neuvottelija.com/ai/ep329-warren-buffett-verot-sami-miettinen/) · [suomeksi](https://www.neuvottelija.fi/economy/ep329-warren-buffett-verot-sami-miettinen/).

---

Cite as: Sami Miettinen, Neuvottelija — Warren Buffett and taxes | Sami Miettinen | Negotiator 329, https://www.neuvottelija.com/podcast/episodes/ep329-warren-buffett-verot-sami-miettinen/, 2025-05-07. For quotes include episode 329 and timestamp.