Germany Presents Text For EU Financial Transactions Tax

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

16 December 2019

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has presented a final proposal for a European Union financial transactions tax to the 10 member states participating in the initiative.

Under the German proposal, announced on December 9, 2019, a tax of 0.2 percent would apply to the purchase of shares in domestically listed companies with a market capitalization in excess of EUR1bn (USD1.1bn). The tax would also apply to depositary receipts issued domestically and abroad and which are backed by shares in these companies. Initial share offerings would be excluded from the FTT.

The German Government estimates that it would collect around EUR1.5bn from the FTT, which would be used to help fund the state pension.

The other member states taking part in the negotiations towards an EU FTT include Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. These countries are participating in the initiative under the EU's enhanced cooperation mechanism, which allows smaller groups of member states to proceed with EU legislation when unanimity on a proposal cannot be achieved.

As initially proposed by the European Commission in 2011, the FTT was to be imposed on all transactions in financial instruments, with the exchange of shares and bonds taxed at a rate of 0.1 percent and derivative contracts at a rate of 0.01 percent. However, member states failed to reach an agreement on the technical details of the draft directive.

TAGS: Finance | tax | investment | European Commission | Belgium | Portugal | Slovenia | banking | financial services | equity investment | Slovakia | legislation | Austria | France | Greece | Italy | Spain | services | Europe | Tax | Financial Transactions Tax (FTT)

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