Financial Transaction Tax
From ACT Wiki
(FTT).
A tax levied on certain financial transactions. FTTs are levied at the financial institution’s level.
In September 2011, the European Commission proposed a harmonised Financial Transaction Tax for the entire European Union. The objectives of the proposed FTT were to:
- prevent the fragmentation of the Single Market that could result from numerous uncoordinated national approaches to taxing financial transactions
- ensure that the financial sector made a fair and substantial contribution to public finances
- discourage financial transactions which do not contribute to the efficiency of financial markets or of the real economy.
The initiative is also supposed to be a first tangible step for taxing such transactions at the global level.
Currently it is under discussion whether a treasury centre that conducts financial transactions could be regarded as a financial institution according to FTT. Hence, depending on the respective transaction, FTT might arise.
