Governments worldwide are giving increasing indication that they will soon begin to instate some form of financial transaction tax or bank levy in an effort to bolster national budgets, reduce financial speculative activity and provide fiscal reserves for future bailouts and financial crises. Public pressure and media attention has helped the idea of a new set of bank taxes rise from a short discussion at the 2009 G20 Pittsburg Summit to a key consideration for major economies worldwide. France, Germany and the UK ... Read More

The UK’s Trades Unions Congress (TUC) has called for the country to create a financial transaction tax. According to statements released by TUC on November 11th the UK needs to begin taxing financial institutions in order to aid in repairing the damage done to the economy. TUC claims that this could be done with a 0.05% levy on some inter-institution financial transactions. The TUC proposal would see a levy on transactions through the Clearing House Automated Payments System (CHAPS), a system used ... Read More

Gordon Brown, UK Prime Minister, brought forward a suggestion at the G20 summit, to instate a global foreign currency transaction tax on banks (commonly referred to as a Tobin Tax). The idea created an almost immediate split of opinion within the G20. At the G20 Summit on November 7th, in St. Andrews, Scotland, the UK Prime Minister suggested banks be levied with a tax on their financial transactions. Gordon Brown made it clear that he wishes to see the burden of bank bailouts ... Read More

The Austrian government has voiced their opinion in favor of instating a Europe spanning transaction tax. Following a meeting of the Austrian Council of Ministers, the Austrian government has voiced its full support of creating a financial transaction tax system spanning the entirety of Europe. The idea was floated to the Austrian government in a paper written by Josef Pröll, Austrian Finance Minister. The aim of the financial transaction tax would be to rein in speculation on the financial markets and create a ... Read More

The idea for a new financial transaction tax in the UK has been floated by the chairman of Britain's Financial Services Authority. Lord Adair Turner, chairman of Britain's Financial Services Authority (FSA), has proposed that the UK implement a tax on financial transactions, so as to detract from the appeal of wide-spread foreign currency speculation by financial institutions. The tax, which is often referred to as the Tobin Tax, would see a levy on capital flows. The rate of levy has not yet ... Read More