UK Chancellor slams “suicidal” FTT
International Tax Review is part of the Delinian Group, Delinian Limited, 4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX, Registered in England & Wales, Company number 00954730
Copyright © Delinian Limited and its affiliated companies 2024

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

UK Chancellor slams “suicidal” FTT

eu-logosmall.jpg

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has denounced the European Commission’s plans for a financial transactions tax (FTT) as suicidal for not just the UK, but the EU as well.

The Commission came forward with proposals for an EU-wide FTT in September and the tax has strong support from France and Germany. The UK, however, has always been staunchly opposed and Osborne’s comments show that it has not wavered.

“Proposals for a Europe-only financial transactions tax are a bullet aimed at the heart of London,” Osborne said in article for the Evening Standard newspaper. “The ideas of a tax on mobile financial transactions that did not include America or China would be economic suicide for Britain and for Europe.”

Kevin Cummings, a tax partner at Berwin Leighton Paisner agrees with Osborne’s assertion, arguing that it is not in the UK's interest to be part of a transaction tax that is limited to Europe because the country will take a disproportionate economic hit.

Cummings, however, does believe that the conclusion of the Gates’ report has made the tax much more likely, where previously he had been sceptical of the Commission’s proposals.

“There are few who can argue with Gates' call for countries to sequestrate funds for development causes - and with Bill Gates behind the cause, the prospects of a FTT seeing the light of day turn from merely possible to quite probable,” said Cummings.

Cummings was critical of Gates’s objections to UK opposition to the tax, however.

“I'm not sure Gates' is right to pour cold water on the UK's objection to an FTT on the basis that the UK already has a stamp tax regime for equities - given the much wider base of the FTT (equities, bonds, derivatives, repos and economic equivalents), the comparison is not perhaps a fair one,” said Cummings.

Roger Kaiser, senior adviser for tax and financial reporting at the European Banking Federation, is less confident given the difficulty of EU member states negotiating with third countries to extend the tax.

“There’s no way it’ll happen globally at the moment,” said Kaiser.

more across site & bottom lb ros

More from across our site

Despite the relief, Brazil’s government has also presented a bill which seeks to re-impose a tax burden on companies’ payroll, one local tax specialist told ITR
Jeremy Brown arrives at the firm after a near 16-year career with Deloitte
PwC could elect a woman into the senior leadership position for the first time; in other news, KPMG Australia has extended its CEO’s term
The Senate report into PwC’s scandal is titled ‘The cover up worsens the crime’
Law firms that are conscious of their role in society are more likely to win work, according to a survey of over 23,000 in-house professionals
The firm’s tax business generated a quarter of HLB’s overall revenues in 2023
While successful pillar two implementation will require collaboration across all units, a combination of internal and external tax advice is at the centre of the effort
Binance has also been accused of manipulating foreign exchange rates via currency speculation and rate-fixing
Six individuals should have raised questions over information they received but did not breach professional standards, according to the firm
The partnership of KPMG UK has installed Holt for a second term as CEO and senior partner; in other news, a Baker McKenzie partner has sued the IRS
Gift this article