this is exactly how goldman operates. if the ftt works to their advantage the retail trader will pay the freight.
Ultimately, ALL taxes are paid for by the individual. This is a 100% truth. All corporate taxes are built into prices and passed to consumers anyway.
Euro zone splinter group seen near deal on transaction tax Link this Share this Digg Email Print Related Topics Business » By John O'Donnell BRUSSELS | Fri Jan 18, 2013 5:50pm GMT (Reuters) - A group of euro zone countries, led by Germany and France, looks set for a green light next week to push ahead with a tax on financial transactions, a step politicians hope will please voters but which critics have warned could backfire. The levy, based on an idea proposed of U.S. economist James Tobin more than 40 years ago, is symbolically important in showing that politicians, who fumbled their way through Europe's five-year financial crisis, are getting to grips with the banks blamed for causing it. FREE GUIDES AND REPORTS FROM DIANOMIADVERTISEMENT Trading Guide The Breakout Box Technique â Free Trading Guide Download FREE Guide A go-ahead from EU finance ministers, who meet in Brussels on Tuesday, would allow the group of 11 states within the 17-nation currency bloc - including Italy, Spain, Austria and Belgium - to start preparations for their own trading tax. Berlin and Paris decided to push ahead in a smaller group under a special arrangement called "enhanced cooperation", which requires the support of a majority of EU countries, after negotiations to impose such a tax across the 27-nation European Union, or even just the euro zone countries, failed. "Citizens have been calling for an FTT (financial transactions tax) for some time now," said Algirdas Semeta, the European Commissioner in charge of tax policy. "I believe we're very close to delivering on this demand." EU diplomats said they also expected a go-ahead. "We expect the decision ... will be taken on Tuesday," one said. If the splinter group can agree on the details of a proposal which will be drafted by the executive European Commission, the tax could be imposed within months. But its introduction might open another rift in Europe, where the 17 countries using the euro are deepening ties in order to underpin the currency, and there is a growing risk that Britain could even leave by EU. Some countries are already counting on the new income and there are many proposals how it should be spent. Officials had estimated that a similar scheme proposed for all 27 countries in the EU could have raised 57 billion euros ($76 billion) a year. INVESTOR BURDEN But while a welcome windfall for countries where shrinking economies and rising unemployment are sapping other tax income, critics have long argued that the FTT will do little but drive trading elsewhere. "You cannot put a transaction tax on a financial sector the size of Luxembourg's and expect it to survive," said Jean-Jacques Rommes, Chief Executive Officer of the Luxembourg Bankers' Association. "Business will go elsewhere." Semeta said the tax, which his officials hope can cut down computer-driven high-frequency trading by imposing a charge on split-second trades, would not burden normal investors. "Around 85 percent of the transactions that will be taxed take place purely between financial institutions," he said. "The very low rates we've proposed will help to avoid knock-on effects for the real economy, even if banks do try to pass on the costs," Semeta said. The tax, championed by Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, has irritated many in Frankfurt, the country's financial centre and rival to London. London, Europe's biggest stock and derivatives trading centre, will not take part in the scheme but deals struck there may be subject to the levy if one of the parties involved is based in a country which applies the tax. The European Commission has suggested taxing stock and bond trades at the rate of 0.1 percent and derivatives trades at 0.01 percent. (
It is amazing why people do not use basic logic and look at history. What ever incomes they projected will be way off as trading volumes will collapse. Their projections are based on silly assumptions that volumes will only modestly decrease. This is exactly what happened in Sweden when they tried to do it between 1984-1991. The trading will just move to London.
So I wonder if they really have the votes to pass this via the QMV? I'm not convinced they do yet but I guess we'll know soon enough. -Guru
Euro zone splinter group seen near deal on transaction tax GlobalPost http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/...splinter-group-seen-near-deal-transaction-tax BRUSSELS, Jan 18 (Reuters) - A group of euro zone countries, led by Germany and France, looks set for a green light next week to push ahead with a tax on financial transactions, a step politicians hope will please voters but which critics have warned ... See all stories on this topic » My thoughts: Seems like France and Germany now think they have the vote count for QMV on EC-11 FTT. Last week, they were delaying the vote a month, and now they are back again pushing for the vote next week. It must be a close vote as this on again off again agenda seems uncertain. We shall soon know the results, keep your fingers crossed. This article above doesn't really focus on QMV and extra-territorial reach, so I'd like to see some other reporting, too.