Scarfman
Knitter of the Scarf
I think the Occupy Movement ought to focus on the FTT. I think it would be a terrific outcome.
Here's an article from a couple of days ago showing that an FTT seems to be on the way in the EU.
And here's the Wikipedia page on the tax - which is not a great page because it's trying to talk about a wide range of taxation measures under the same name, which is not quite accurate.
But Swanny says no:
I really don't get it. These transactions - even though they are used as purely financial instruments - always involve the sale of something with value. That ought to be subject to a tax like any sale. What is the foundation behind exempting these transactions (except that businesses don't like it, as Swanny says).
They can make it 10% as far as I'm concerned - that's what I pay on transactions.
The benefits are obvious: we need to prevent corporations from day trading. It's got to the point where it's going to reduce everyone's superannuation payout simply because super funds don't trade like that.
Here's an article from a couple of days ago showing that an FTT seems to be on the way in the EU.
And here's the Wikipedia page on the tax - which is not a great page because it's trying to talk about a wide range of taxation measures under the same name, which is not quite accurate.
But Swanny says no:
Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says he has no plan to follow France's lead by introducing a financial transaction tax.
Doing so would slow down economic growth because it would hit all Australian businesses, not just banks, he said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday announced he would introduce a 0.1 per cent tax on financial transactions in August.
Advocates of the controversial ``Robin Hood'' tax see it as a potentially significant revenue generator as well as a penalty against speculation.
But critics said it could cause investors to pull their money out of countries applying it.
``The Government has no plans to introduce a financial transaction tax,'' Mr Swan said in a brief statement today.
He said such an impost would slow economic growth by raising the cost of capital for all Australian businesses.
``Large and small businesses all across Australia use financial transactions every day to prudently manage their risks, strengthen their business models and, ultimately, protect Australian jobs.''
Several European economies propose such taxes in circumstances where they have massive holes in their budgets and need to bail out banks.
``Here in Australia, we didn't need to bail out our banks with taxpayer funds,'' Mr Swan said.
Instead, the Government introduced bank guarantees to secure the flow of credit to households and small businesses.
http://www.perthnow.com.au/business...-says-wayne-swan/story-e6frg2t3-1226257468790
I really don't get it. These transactions - even though they are used as purely financial instruments - always involve the sale of something with value. That ought to be subject to a tax like any sale. What is the foundation behind exempting these transactions (except that businesses don't like it, as Swanny says).
They can make it 10% as far as I'm concerned - that's what I pay on transactions.
The benefits are obvious: we need to prevent corporations from day trading. It's got to the point where it's going to reduce everyone's superannuation payout simply because super funds don't trade like that.