The controversial tax on
financial transactions (FTT), commonly referred to as Tobin Tax,
will be introduced this year in some countries, Italian Finance
Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said following a meeting of European
Union finance ministers Tuesday.
The tax will be introduced gradually starting from the end
of 2014 by the 11 European Union countries - including Italy -
that signed up to so-called enhanced cooperation in 2012.
Initially the FTT will be applied to shares and some
derivatives, Padoan said.
Britain, which has always been opposed to the levy, said it
would appeal to the European Court of Justice against the
decision should it affect countries that have not signed up to
enhanced cooperation.
"The tax repels investments, we are concerned about its
extraterritorial impact," said Chancellor of the Exchequer
George Osborne.
The FTT is nicknamed after Nobel Laureate economist James
Tobin, who in 1972 proposed a tax on all spot conversions on
currencies to prevent attacks inflicted by short-term
speculation.
Since then it has come to refer to taxes on other financial
transactions, like equities or securities, intended to dampen
speculative forays or raise more money for governments from the
financial sector.
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