Taxation of the financial sector

The financial sector was a major cause of the crisis and received substantial government support over the past few years. To ensure that the sector makes a fair contribution to public finances and for the benefit of citizens, enterprises and Member States, the European Commission on 28 September put forward a proposal for a financial transaction tax (FTT).

The Financial Transaction Tax (FTT)

Through the FTT, the financial sector will properly participate in the cost of re-building Europe's economies and bolstering public finances. The proposed tax will generate significant revenues and help to ensure greater stability of financial markets, without posing undue risk to EU competitiveness. For further information see the press release (IP/11/1085 ), the frequently asked questions (MEMO/11/640 ), the Commission proposal (COM/2011/594 (pdf 142 Kb)(142 Kb) ), the impact assessment (zip 6.97 Mb)(6.97 Mb) (SEC/2011/1102), its summary (pdf 54 Kb)(54 Kb)  (SEC/2011/1103) and the citizens' summary (pdf 24 Kb)(24 Kb)  as well as a presentation (pdf 169 Kb)(169 Kb) .

 

 

The Financial Transaction Tax explained: a video interview of Manfred Bergmann, Director for Indirect Taxation and Tax Administration, European Commission
Short version	Complete version

 

Background

The Commission has explored the idea of taxing the financial sector at EU level for several months now. On 29 June 2011, the Commission announced in the context of the multiannual financial framework that it would propose to set up a financial transaction tax as an own resource for the EU budget (IP/11/799 , MEMO/11/468 ).

In parallel, the Commission has explored ways to introduce a financial transaction tax at global level since 2009 with its international partners in the G20 (Pittsburgh, Toronto) and will continue to do so.

The Commission on 7 October 2010 published a communication (COM/2010/549 ) setting out ideas for the future taxation of the financial sector. This was followed on 22 February 2011 by the launch of a public consultation on the taxation of the financial sector, aimed to receive as wide as possible feedback on the ideas set out in the Communication. The results of the consultation are available from our website.