1. European Commission
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Taxation of the financial sector
The financial sector was a major cause of the crisis and received substantial
government support over the past few years. To ensure that the sector makes a
fair contribution to public finances and for the benefit of citizens, enterprises and
Member States, the European Commission on 28 September put forward a
proposal for a financial transaction tax (FTT).
The Financial Transaction Tax (FTT)
Through the FTT, the financial sector will properly
participate in the cost of re-building Europe's
economies and bolstering public finances. The
proposed tax will generate significant revenues and
help to ensure greater stability of financial markets,
without posing undue risk to EU competitiveness.
During the Ecofin Council meetings in June and July
2012 it was ascertained that there was no unanimous
support within the Council for a common system of
FTT in the Union as a whole, as proposed by the
Commission, in the foreseeable future. During these
Ecofin meetings several delegations had already
pointed out that progress could be made on the issue
in a more restricted group of Member States in the
context of enhanced cooperation between interested
Member States.
As from 28 September 2012 the Commission received requests of eleven
Member States asking it to submit a proposal for a Council Decision to authorise
enhanced cooperation. Its objectives and scope were requested to be based on
the original Commission FTT proposal. The Commission's analysis provided a
positive outcome. On 23 October 2012 the Commission proposed to the Council
to authorise the enhanced cooperation in the area of financial transaction tax.
The European Parliament gave its consent to the latter proposal on 12
December 2012 and on 22 January 2013 the EU Council adopted a decision
authorising eleven Member States to go ahead with enhanced cooperation on a
common system of financial transaction tax (FTT). See the Council press release,
Commissioner Šemeta's statement and his speech at the Council press
conference. A subsequent Commission proposal for a Council Directive
implementing the enhanced cooperation in the area of financial transaction tax
should follow in due course. See the press release (IP/12/1138), the questions
and answers (MEMO/12/799) and the proposal (COM/2012/631 ). See also
Commissioner Šemeta's statement after the European Parliament vote.
Background
On 28 September 2011 the European Commission has adopted a proposal for a
Council directive on a common system of financial transaction tax and amending
Directive 2008/7/EC. For further information see the press release (IP/11/1085
), the frequently asked questions (MEMO/11/640 ), the Commission proposal
(COM/2011/594 ), the impact assessment (SEC/2011/1102), its summary
(SEC/2011/1103) and the citizens' summary as well as a presentation .
European Commission services on 4 May 2012 published seven explanatory
notes that provide the results of further analysis and clarifications on how the
FTT would work in practice:
Tax contribution of the financial sector;
Territoriality of the tax;

2. Relocation;
Revenue estimates;
Macroeconomic effects;
Tax collection;
Pension funds.
The European Parliament on 23 May 2012 adopted an opinion supporting the
Commission's proposal on FTT. Commissioner Šemeta issued a statement
welcoming Parliament's opinion.
The Financial Transaction Tax explained: a video interview of Manfred Bergmann, Director for Indirect
Taxation and Tax Administration, European Commission
Short version Complete version
Short version with English subtitles Complete version with English subtitles
On 7 October 2010 the Commission published a communication (COM/2010/549
) setting out ideas for the future taxation of the financial sector. This was
followed on 22 February 2011 by the launch of a public consultation on the
taxation of the financial sector, aimed to receive as wide as possible feedback on
the ideas set out in the Communication. The results of the consultation are
available from our website.
In parallel, the Commission has explored ways to introduce a financial
transaction tax at global level since 2009 with its international partners in the
G20 (Pittsburgh, Toronto) and will continue to do so.
On 29 June 2011, the Commission announced in the context of the multiannual
financial framework that it would propose to set up a financial transaction tax as
the basis for an own resource for the EU budget (IP/11/799 , MEMO/11/468 ).
After the adoption of the proposal for a directive on the Financial Transaction Tax
in September 2011, the Commission proceeded to update its legislative
proposals relating to the Own Resources System in November 2011.All relevant
documents on this issue are available from the Budget website (see
COM/2011/738, 739 and 740).