Yet another new Tax .... but is this one a good idea?

[Rooster]

There are calls for a new tax. The FTT.

At the last G20 Summit (Pittsburgh, September 2009), world leaders tasked the IMF with drawing up an implementation plan for a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), as one of a number of proposals to ensure the contribution of the financial sector both to the cost of bank bailouts and to the recovery from the global economic crisis.

Its suggested a small tax, around 0.05%, on some commercial financial transactions could raise large sums of money. Perhaps a bit of a pay back in return for the support the banking sector has received?

A campaign to gain support for the idea is under way called 'The Robin Hood Tax'. Bill Nighy appears in a watchable promotion for the idea .....

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/qYtNwmXKIvM&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/qYtNwmXKIvM&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;fs=1</a>

The campaign has a website http://robinhoodtax.org.uk/ which has more detail.

So could this be a workable idea? I'm not usually a fan of new taxes but somehow this one seems a little tempting! 

[martin]

Excellent idea- could we perhaps tax them first, THEN display their heads on pikes across the London Bridges?

[desperate]

If I borrow money from a bank, they want it back with interest, fairy muff, now they have borrowed from me I want it back with interest, fairy nuff . Tax them and use it for social good things

Desp

[northern installer]

dont get carried away with this idea;any tax on a bank will just be funded from the banks customers,ie you and me!

[JohnS]

Its suggested a small tax, around 0.05%, on some commercial financial transactions could raise large sums of money. Perhaps a bit of a pay back in return for the support the banking sector has received?

The key words are commercial financial transactions.  At the end of the day it will make everything a little more expensive.

If one really wanted to raise the tax take, reconsider the case for 5% VAT on energy.  If it cost a bit more, it would be a bigger incentive to save.  Discuss.

[desperate]

dont get carried away with this idea;any tax on a bank will just be funded from the banks customers,ie you and me!

True enough, but then everything ultimately gets funded by you and me, but we should still be able to redistribute where the tax comes from.

Desperate

[dhaslam]

It may take the banks ten years to get back to anything like  their former  level of profits.    The Irish banks will be mostly state owned for  years and instead of paying tax they will be  a big cost to the government.     Of course the mad lending of the last five years  did give rise to a lot of tax,  about €100,000 for each private house built etc but the government foolishly spent practically  all, much of it on extra salaries.    
  
Raises taxes on fossil fuels would help development of renewable alternatives but there needs to be suitable sources available.  For example there is no point in raising tax on petrol and diesel if  electric cars or other alternatives aren't available.