Long overdue. It takes a financial meltdown before the benefits of a Tobin type tax are clear to our myopic policymakers. Tax Justice Network are ecstatic..
from Tax Justice Network by TJN
From the European Parliament:“The EU should promote the introduction of a financial transaction tax, even if it is alone in doing so “as a first step”, says Parliament in a resolution on innovative financing voted in plenary on Tuesday. . . both resolutions call for the development of a low-rate financial transactions tax (FTT) which they say could raise around €200 billion per year in the EU and would also discourage speculative trading by making it more costly. If imposing this tax worldwide proves too difficult, then the EU should impose it at European level.”….
Fantastic. This is a tax justice agenda if ever there were one. It’s a non-binding resolution, but such things carry weight. As the Guardian reports:
David Hillman, a spokesman for the Robin Hood Tax campaign, said: “The pieces are now falling into place for a Europe-wide bank tax.
“The German and French governments are both pushing this; Austria and Spain are in support and today the European parliament threw its weight behind a tiny tax on financial transactions that could help us fulfil our commitments to tackling poverty and climate change, and help prevent such huge cuts in public spending.
“It’s time the UK stopped dragging its heels and joined the rest of Europe in ensuring the financial sector pays its fair share,” he said.
Indeed. (link to full article)
