Tax Tobina - For or Against?
Nicolas Sarkozy said that in August this year in France will be a tax on financial transactions - a Tobin tax. This decision is completely contrary to the financial policies of Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007, his policy was to reduce taxes and fees that are charged mainly with large companies and wealthy population.
What does the Tobin tax and how is it applied?
Tobin tax, proposed in 1972 the winner of "Nobel Prize in economics" James Tobin (James Tobin), consists of a tax on international currency transactions to limit the volatility of exchange rates.
Tobin proposed a tax on currency transactions, which have fluctuated between 0.05% and 0.2%.
Tobin tax is a mechanism to discourage speculation and increase government revenue. In accordance with the original idea, borrowed funds must be used to create and develop an appropriate international body governing a single. Recently, the European Commission has proposed that a tax on financial transactions used to finance the budget of the European Union, which would reduce the financial burden on member countries.
Tobin tax - Opponents and Storonoki
The principle of the tax on financial operations supported by the European Commission and several states, including France, Germany and Belgium.
Banks and stock agents against this natural initsiotivy. In addition, opponents of this law are the United States and Great Britain. The European Central Bank ( ECB ) believes that such a tax makes sense to enter only on a global scale, or its application would be pointless.
The main criticism relates to the extreme difficulty or impossibility of imposing a tax on a global scale, which is the only guarantee of its effectiveness. Any State which has unilaterally ratify this law, doomed to capital outflows, as investors will transfer immediately their operations to countries where the tax was not passed. .
Another important issue is the imbalance between the financial centers. Obviously, in the case of a law within the boundaries of a Tobin eurozone, the gain in the first place will be in London, which spill over the lion's share of high-risk assets.
With the current transparency of financial transactions, it is difficult to accurately assess the consequences of such a tax. But one of its main advantages is the ability to take better account of this exchange transactions. In addition to funds from the tax advantage will be a better understanding of financial processes and innovations that will improve financial regulation and will better adapt the level of taxes. Tobin tax could generate significant amounts of from about 200 to 300 billion euros in Europe.
This tax makes sense only if it will support all countries in the world, or at least the whole of Europe. Britain strongly opposed, and it is clear that the euro-zone countries agree not to do it quickly, without Britain.
Helen Moses
