Editing Tobin tax (section)

== Proposals and implementations ==
It was originally assumed that the Tobin tax would require multilateral implementation, since one country acting alone would find it very difficult to implement this tax. Many people have therefore argued that it would be best implemented by an international institution.  It has been proposed that having the [[United Nations]] manage a Tobin tax would solve this problem and would give the UN a large source of funding independent from donations by participating states. However, there have also been initiatives of national dimension about the tax. (This is in addition to the [[Foreign exchange controls|many countries that have foreign exchange controls]].)

Whilst finding some support in countries with strong left-wing political movements such as France and [[Latin America]], the Tobin tax proposal came under much criticism from economists and governments, especially those with liberal markets and a large international banking sector, who said it would be impossible to implement and would destabilise foreign exchange markets.

Most of the actual implementation of Tobin taxes, whether in the form of a specific [[currency transaction tax]], or a more general [[financial transaction tax]], has occurred at a national level.  In July, 2006, analyst Marion G. Wrobel examined the international experiences of various countries with financial transaction taxes.<ref name="lessons">{{cite web|url=http://dsp-psd.tpsgc.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/bp419-e.htm|title=Financial transactions taxes: the international experience and the lessons for Canada (BP-419E)|access-date=2009-12-24|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121205234510/http://dsp-psd.tpsgc.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/bp419-e.htm|archive-date=2012-12-05|url-status=live}}</ref>

===EU financial transaction tax===
{{Main|European Union financial transaction tax}}

[[File:EU financial transaction tax.svg|thumb|220px|<div class="boilerplate" style="margin: 0.25em; padding: 0.25em; text-align: left;">{{center|'''EU Financial transaction tax'''}}{{legend|#008000|Supporting EU countries}} {{legend|#d40000|Opposing EU countries}} {{legend|#464646|Undecided Euro countries}} {{legend|#787878|Undecided non-Euro countries}}</div>|right]]

The EU financial transaction tax (EU FTT) is a proposal made by the [[European Commission]] in September 2011 to introduce a financial transaction tax within the 27 member states of the [[European Union]] by 2014. The tax would only impact [[financial transaction]]s between [[financial institution]]s charging 0.1% against the exchange of [[Share (finance)|shares]] and [[Bond (finance)|bonds]] and 0.01% across [[derivative contract]]s. According to the European Commission it could raise €57 billion every year,<ref name="impact-summary">{{cite news|url=http://www.euinside.eu/en/news/the-eu-expects-57-billion-euros-a-year-by-a-new-bank-tax|title=The EU Expects 57 Billion Euros a Year from a New Financial Tax|author=Ralitsa Kovacheva|date=September 30, 2011|publisher=EU inside|access-date=26 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303083648/http://www.euinside.eu/en/news/the-eu-expects-57-billion-euros-a-year-by-a-new-bank-tax|archive-date=3 March 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> of which around €10bn (£8.4bn) would go to Great Britain, which hosts Europe's biggest financial center.<ref name="Semeta">{{cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9087264/Financial-transaction-tax-would-raise-10bn.html |title= Financial transaction tax would raise €10bn |author= Harry Wilson |date= February 16, 2012 |newspaper= Telegraph |access-date= 3 March 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120220033718/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9087264/Financial-transaction-tax-would-raise-10bn.html |archive-date= 20 February 2012 |url-status= live }}</ref> It is unclear whether a financial transaction tax is compatible with European law.<ref>Dietlein, Georg (2012): National Approaches towards a Financial Transaction Tax and Their Compatibility with European Law, EC Tax Review, Vol. 21 Issue 4, S. 207–211</ref>

If implemented the tax must be paid in the European country where the financial operator is established. This "R plus I" (residence plus issuance) solution means the EU-FTT would cover all transactions that involve a single European firm, no matter if these transactions are carried out in the EU or elsewhere in the world.<ref>[http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/id/ipa/09063.pdf Sieling, Carsten (2012): Financial Transaction Tax. Sensible, Feasible, Overdue. Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation, S. 2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101024329/http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/id/ipa/09063.pdf |date=2013-11-01 }} (Retrieved 2012-06-05)</ref> The scheme makes it impossible for say French or German banks to avoid the tax by moving their transactions offshore,<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/diskussion-um-transaktionssteuer-warum-roesler-falsch-liegt-1.1254914-2 |title= Warum Rösler falsch liegt |author= Avinash Persaud |date= 2012-01-10 |publisher= [[Sueddeutsche Zeitung|Sueddeutsche]] |access-date= 2012-01-10 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120113070211/http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/diskussion-um-transaktionssteuer-warum-roesler-falsch-liegt-1.1254914-2 |archive-date= 2012-01-13 |url-status= live }}</ref> unless they give up all their European customers.<ref name="SZ-2012-05-12">{{cite news |url=http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/eu-studie-zur-finanztransaktionssteuer-und-sie-funktioniert-doch-1.1353438 |title=Und sie funktioniert doch |author=Alexander Hagelüken |date=May 10, 2012 |access-date=February 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910050812/http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/eu-studie-zur-finanztransaktionssteuer-und-sie-funktioniert-doch-1.1353438 |archive-date=September 10, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Being faced with stiff resistance from some non-eurozone EU countries, particularly United Kingdom and Sweden, a group of eleven states began pursuing the idea of utilizing [[enhanced co-operation]] to implement the tax in states which wish to participate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.europolitics.info/economy-monetary-affairs/lowering-contributions-possible-even-under-enhanced-cooperation-art342321-30.html |title=Lowering contributions possible even under enhanced cooperation |last=Sebag |first=Gaspard |date=2012-08-31 |access-date=2012-09-20 |publisher=[[Europolitics]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512094546/http://www.europolitics.info/economy-monetary-affairs/lowering-contributions-possible-even-under-enhanced-cooperation-art342321-30.html |archive-date=2013-05-12 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/11-eurozone-states-ready-to-launch-financial-transactions-tax-eu-tax-commissioner/articleshow/16738834.cms|title=11 eurozone states ready to launch financial transactions tax: EU tax commissioner|date=2012-10-09|access-date=2012-10-09|newspaper=The Economic Times}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Opinion polls indicate that 41 percent of the British people are in favour of some forms of FTT (see section: [[Financial transaction tax#Public opinion|Public opinion]]).

The proposal supported by the eleven [[EU member states]], was approved in the [[European Parliament]] in December 2012,<ref name="ECPARL">{{cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pressroom/content/20121207IPR04408/html/Eleven-EU-countries-get-Parliament%27s-all-clear-for-a-financial-transaction-tax|title=Eleven EU countries get Parliament's all clear for a financial transaction tax|date=2012-12-12|access-date=2012-12-27|publisher=[[European Parliament]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121226195512/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pressroom/content/20121207IPR04408/html/Eleven-EU-countries-get-Parliament%27s-all-clear-for-a-financial-transaction-tax|archive-date=2012-12-26|url-status=live}}</ref>  and by the [[Council of the European Union]] in January 2013.<ref name="ECENHANCED">{{cite web|url=http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ecofin/134949.pdf|title=Financial transaction tax: Council agrees to enhanced cooperation|publisher=[[Council of the European Union]]|date=2013-01-22|access-date=2013-01-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424203553/http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ecofin/134949.pdf|archive-date=2013-04-24|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="guardia-2013-01-22">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/jan/22/eu-approves-financial-transaction-tax-eurozone|title=EU approves financial transaction tax for 11 eurozone countries|author=Phillip Inman|date=2013-01-22|access-date=2013-01-25|newspaper=The Guardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928205051/http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/jan/22/eu-approves-financial-transaction-tax-eurozone|archive-date=2013-09-28|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://robinhoodtax.org/latest/robin-hood-gets-go-ahead-europe "Robin Hood Gets Go Ahead in Europe"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127163524/http://robinhoodtax.org/latest/robin-hood-gets-go-ahead-europe |date=2013-01-27 }} ''RobinHoodTax.org'', 23 January 2013</ref><ref>[https://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/25/business/michel-barnier-quest-davos "Barnier: Europe's 'Robin Hood' tax 'politically and morally right'"]  ''CNN'', January 25, 2013</ref> The formal agreement on the details of the EU FTT still need to be decided upon and approved by the European Parliament.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-01/eu-to-present-financial-transaction-tax-proposal-on-feb-14.html|title=EU to Present Financial-Transaction Tax Proposal on Feb. 14|last=Brunsden|first=Jim|date=2013-02-01|access-date=2013-02-03|publisher=[[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925162129/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-01/eu-to-present-financial-transaction-tax-proposal-on-feb-14.html|archive-date=2013-09-25|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ECPROG">{{cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/content/20121207STO04364/html/Financial-transaction-tax-clearing-the-next-hurdle|title=Financial transaction tax: clearing the next hurdle|date=2012-12-11|access-date=2012-12-27|publisher=[[European Parliament]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511222052/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/content/20121207STO04364/html/Financial-transaction-tax-clearing-the-next-hurdle|archive-date=2013-05-11|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Swedish financial transaction taxes===
{{See also|Financial transaction tax}}

Wrobel's paper highlighted the Swedish experience with financial transaction taxes.<ref name="lessons" /> In January 1984, Sweden introduced a 0.5% tax on the purchase or sale of an equity security. Thus a round trip (purchase and sale) transaction resulted in a 1% tax.  In July 1986 the rate was doubled. In January 1989, a considerably lower tax of 0.002% on fixed-income securities was introduced for a security with a maturity of 90 days or less. On a bond with a maturity of five years or more, the tax was 0.003%.

The revenues from taxes were disappointing; for example, revenues from the tax on fixed-income securities were initially expected to amount to 1,500 million Swedish kronor per year. They did not amount to more than 80 million Swedish kronor in any year and the average was closer to 50 million.<ref name="papers.ssrn.com">{{cite journal|last1=Campbell|first1=John Y.|last2=Froot|first2=Kenneth A.|date=December 1993|title=International Experiences with Securities Transaction Taxes (NBER Working Paper No. W4587)|ssrn=338864}}</ref> In addition, as taxable trading volumes fell, so did revenues from capital gains taxes, entirely offsetting revenues from the equity transactions tax that had grown to 4,000 million Swedish kronor by 1988.<ref name="ideas.repec.org">{{cite journal|last1=Umlauf|first1=S|year=1993|title=Transaction taxes and the behavior of the Swedish stock market|journal=Journal of Financial Economics|volume=33|issue=2|page=227|doi=10.1016/0304-405X(93)90005-V}}</ref>

On the day that the tax was announced, share prices fell by 2.2%. But there was leakage of information prior to the announcement, which might explain the 5.35% price decline in the 30 days prior to the announcement. When the tax was doubled, prices again fell by another 1%. These declines were in line with the capitalized value of future tax payments resulting from expected trades. It was further felt that the taxes on fixed-income securities only served to increase the cost of government borrowing, providing another argument against the tax.

Even though the tax on fixed-income securities was much lower than that on equities, the impact on market trading was much more dramatic. During the first week of the tax, the volume of bond trading fell by 85%, even though the tax rate on five-year bonds was only 0.003%. The volume of [[futures trading]] fell by 98% and the options trading market disappeared.   On 15 April 1990, the tax on fixed-income securities was abolished. In January 1991 the rates on the remaining taxes were cut in half and by the end of the year they were abolished completely.  Once the taxes were eliminated, trading volumes returned and grew substantially in the 1990s and 2000s.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Hemmelgarn|first1=Thomas|last2=Nicodeme|first2=Gaetan|date=2012-02-23|title=Can Tax Policy Help to Prevent Financial Crisis?|language=en-US|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199698165.001.0001|isbn=9780199698165|url=http://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/academic/pdf/openaccess/9780199698165.pdf|hdl=10419/118674}}</ref>

====Tobin tax proponents reaction to the Swedish experience====
The Swedish experience of a transaction tax was with purchase or sale of equity securities, fixed income securities and derivatives. In global international currency trading, however, the situation could, some argue, look quite different.

Wrobel's studies do not address the global economy as a whole, as James Tobin did when he spoke of "the nineties' [[liquidity crisis|crises]] in Mexico, South East Asia and Russia,"<ref name="eumed1" /><ref name="spiegel1">{{cite web|url=http://service.spiegel.de/digas/find?DID=20017795|title=Archivsuche - Archiv - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten<!-- Bot generated title -->|website=spiegel.de}}</ref> which included the [[1994 economic crisis in Mexico]], the [[1997 Asian Financial Crisis]], and the [[1998 Russian financial crisis]].

===British stock transaction tax (Stamp Duty)===
{{See also|Stamp duty in the United Kingdom#Stamp duty reserve tax|l1=Stamp Duty Reserve Tax}}

An existing example of a [[Financial transaction tax|Financial Transaction Tax]] (FTT) is [[Stamp duty in the United Kingdom#Stamp duty reserve tax|Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (SDRT)]] and [[stamp duty]].<ref>Stamp duty applies to transfers of [[Stock certificate|certificated stock]].  SDRT is a broadly equivalent tax on the transfers of uncertificated stock.</ref> Stamp duty was introduced as an [[ad valorem]] tax on share purchases in 1808,<ref>{{cite web|title=Stamp Taxes Manual|publisher=HM Revenue and Customs|url=http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/so/manual.pdf|access-date=2011-11-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307090436/http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/so/manual.pdf|archive-date=2012-03-07|url-status=live}} paras 1.34 to 1.40</ref> preceding by over 150 years the Tobin tax on currency transactions.  Changes were made in 1963.<ref name="Oxera">{{cite web|url=http://www.oxera.com/main.aspx?id=5938|title=The effectiveness of Keynes-Tobin transaction taxes when heterogeneous agents can trade in different markets: A behavioral finance approach|author=OXERA|date=May 2007|publisher=Oxera Consulting Ltd|access-date=2010-03-04|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220065121/http://www.oxera.com/main.aspx?id=5938|archive-date=2012-02-20}}</ref>  In 1963 the rate of the UK Stamp Duty was 2%, subsequently fluctuating between 1% and 2%, until a process of its gradual reduction started in 1984, when the rate was halved, first from 2% to 1%, and then once again in 1986 from 1% to the current level of 0.5%.<ref name="Oxera" />

The changes in Stamp Duty rates in 1974, 1984, and 1986 provided researchers with "natural experiments", allowing them to measure the impact of transaction taxes on market volume, volatility, returns, and valuations of UK companies listed on the [[London Stock Exchange]]. Jackson and O'Donnel (1985), using UK quarterly data, found that the 1% cut in the Stamp Duty in April 1984 from 2% to 1% lead to a "dramatic 70% increase in equity turnover".<ref>Jackson, P. and A. O’Donnell, 1985. The effects of stamp duty on equity transactions and prices in the UK Stock Exchange. Bank of England Discussion Paper No. 25.</ref> Analyzing all three Stamp Duty rate changes, Saporta and Kan (1997) found that the announcements of tax rate increases (decreases) were followed by negative (positive) returns, but even though these results were statistically significant, they were likely to be influenced by other factors, because the announcements were made on [[Budget Day]]s.<ref>{{cite journal| last1=Saporta| first1=Victoria| last2=Kan| first2=Kamhon| doi=10.2139/ssrn.93656| title=The Effects of Stamp Duty on the Level and Volatility of Equity Prices| year=1998|ssrn= 93656 | s2cid=153211344}}</ref> Bond et al. (2005) confirmed the findings of previous studies, noting also that the impact of the announced tax rate cuts was more beneficial (increasing market value more significantly) in case of larger firms, which had higher turnover, and were therefore more affected by the transaction tax than stocks of smaller companies, less frequently traded.<ref name="Bond2005">{{cite journal |doi= 10.1628/001522105774979010 |last1= Bond |first1= Steve |first2= Mike |last2= Hawkins |first3= Alexander |last3= Klemm |year= 2005 |title= Stamp Duty on Shares and Its Effect on Share Prices |journal= Public Finance Analysis |volume= 61 |issue= 3 |pages= 275–298 |url= https://ideas.repec.org/a/mhr/finarc/urnsici0015-2218%28200511%29613_275sdosai_2.0.tx_2-v.html |citeseerx= 10.1.1.573.9479 |access-date= 2015-03-21 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150402170449/https://ideas.repec.org/a/mhr/finarc/urnsici0015-2218%28200511%29613_275sdosai_2.0.tx_2-v.html |archive-date= 2015-04-02 |url-status= live }}</ref>

Because the UK tax code provides exemptions from the Stamp Duty Reserve Tax for all financial intermediaries, including  [[market maker]]s, [[investment bank]]s and other members of the LSE,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/so/manual.pdf |title=HMRC Stamp Taxes Manual |pages=8, 11 |access-date=2010-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307090436/http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/so/manual.pdf |archive-date=2012-03-07 |url-status=live }}</ref> and due to the strong growth of the [[contract for difference]] (CFD) industry, which provides UK investors with untaxed substitutes for LSE  stocks, according to the Oxera (2007) report,<ref name="Oxera" /> more than 70% percent of the total UK stock market volume, including the entire institutional volume remained (in 2005) exempt from the Stamp Duty, in contrast to the common perception of this tax as a "tax on bank transactions" or a "tax on speculation". On the other hand, as much as 40% of the Stamp Duty revenues come from taxing foreign residents, because the tax is "chargeable whether the transaction takes place in the UK or overseas, and whether either party is resident in the UK or not."<ref name="Bond2005" />

===Sterling Stamp Duty===
In 2005, the Tobin tax was developed into a modern proposal by the United Kingdom NGO Stamp Out Poverty. It simplified the two-tier tax in favour of a mechanism designed solely as a means for raising development revenue. The currency market by this time had grown to $2,000 billion a day. To investigate the feasibility of such a tax they hired the [[City of London]] firm Intelligence Capital, who found that a tax on the [[pound sterling]] wherever it was traded in the world, as opposed to a tax on all currencies traded in the UK, was indeed feasible and could be unilaterally implemented by the UK government.<ref name="Spratt">{{cite web|url=http://www.stampoutpoverty.org/?lid=9889|title=A Sterling Solution|author=Stephen Spratt|date=September 2006|work=Stamp Out Poverty report|publisher=Stamp Out Poverty Campaign|access-date=2008-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703081057/http://www.stampoutpoverty.org/?lid=9889|archive-date=2007-07-03|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Sterling Stamp Duty, as it became known, was to be set at a rate 200 times lower than Tobin had envisaged in 2001, which "pro Tobin tax" supporters claim wouldn't have affected currency markets and could still raise large sums of money. The global currency market grew to $3,200 billion a day in 2007, or £400,000 billion per annum with the trade in sterling, the fourth most traded currency in the world, worth £34,000 billion a year.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.bis.org/publ/rpfx07.htm|title= Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity in April 2007 – Preliminary global results – Turnover|author= Bank for International Settlements|date= September 2007|publisher= Bank for International Settlements|access-date= 2010-01-02|author-link= Bank for International Settlements|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100407224644/http://www.bis.org/publ/rpfx07.htm|archive-date= 2010-04-07|url-status= live}}</ref> A sterling stamp duty set at 0.005% as some claim would have raised in the region of £2 billion a year in 2007.<ref>Schmidt, R. 2007 Currency Transaction Tax: Rate & Revenue Estimates, The North-South Institute</ref> The All Party Parliamentary Group for Debt, Aid and Trade published a report in November 2007 into financing for development in which it recommended that the UK government undertake rigorous research into the implementation of a 0.005% stamp duty on all sterling foreign exchange transactions, to provide additional revenue to help bridge the funding gap required to pay for the [[Millennium Development Goals]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.debtaidtrade.org|title=健康でいたいなら、病院で検査を受けたり生活習慣を見直したりしよう|access-date=2019-08-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809101526/http://debtaidtrade.org/|archive-date=2018-08-09|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Multinational proposals===
In 1996, the United Nations Development Programme sponsored a comprehensive feasibility and cost-benefit study of the Tobin tax:
Haq, Mahbub ul; Kaul, Inge; Grunberg, Isabelle (August 1996). The Tobin Tax: Coping with Financial Volatility. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-511180-4}}.

====European idea for a 'first Euro tax'====
In late 2001, a Tobin tax amendment was adopted by the [[French National Assembly]]. However, it was overturned by March 2002 by the [[French Senate]].<ref name="Fougier">{{cite web|url=http://www.ifri.org/files/policy_briefs/policy_2_fougier_ang.pdf |title=The French Antiglobalization Movement: a New French Exception? |author=Eddy Fougier |date=Spring 2003 |publisher=Institut Francais des Relationes Internationales |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920065633/http://www.ifri.org/files/policy_briefs/policy_2_fougier_ang.pdf |archive-date=2011-09-20 }}</ref><ref name="Kim">{{cite web|title=The Tobin tax revisited in the context of global governance on capital markets |author1=Kwan S. Kim  |author2=Seok-Hyeon Kim  |name-list-style=amp |page = 30|date=December 2003 |work=The Role of International Institutions in Globalization: The Challenges of Reform (edited by John-ren Chen) |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing}}</ref><ref name="Ben-Ami">{{cite web|url=http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/8184/ |title=Tobin or not Tobin? |author=Daniel Ben-Ami |date=March 25, 2002 |publisher=spiked |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622005912/http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/8184/ |archive-date=June 22, 2011 }}</ref>

On June 15, 2004, the Commission of Finance and Budget in the Belgian Federal Parliament approved a bill implementing a [[Spahn tax]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wiwi.uni-frankfurt.de/profs/spahn/pdf/publ/7-041.pdf |title=International Financial Flows and Transactions Taxes: Survey and Options |author=Paul Bernd Spahn |date=June 16, 1995 |publisher=University of Frankfurt/Main; Paper originally published with the IMF as Working Paper WP/95/60. |access-date=2010-01-13 |author-link=Paul Bernd Spahn |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101011143915/http://www.wiwi.uni-frankfurt.de/profs/spahn/pdf/publ/7-041.pdf |archive-date=October 11, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the legislation, Belgium will introduce the Tobin tax once all countries of the [[eurozone]] introduce a similar law.<ref>[[European Central Bank]] (2004). [http://www.ecb.int/ecb/legal/pdf/en_con_2004_34_f_sign.pdf Opinion of the European Central Bank (CON/2004/34)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071122200842/http://www.ecb.int/ecb/legal/pdf/en_con_2004_34_f_sign.pdf |date=2007-11-22 }}</ref> In July 2005 former Austrian chancellor [[Wolfgang Schüssel]] called for a European Union Tobin tax to base the communities' financial structure on more stable and independent grounds. However, the proposal was rejected by the [[European Commission]].

On November 23, 2009, the [[President of the European Council]], [[Herman Van Rompuy]], after attending a meeting of the [[Bilderberg Group]] argued for a European version of the Tobin tax.<ref name="Moran">{{cite news |url=http://m.digitaljournal.com/article/282585?doredir=0&noredir=1 |title=Europe's first President calls for Euro tax, Euro identity |author=Andrew Moran |date=November 23, 2009 |work=Digital Journal |access-date=2010-01-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710124932/http://m.digitaljournal.com/article/282585?doredir=0&noredir=1 |archive-date=July 10, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/eu-president-wants-to-see-a-new-euro-tax-1950730.html |title=EU president wants to see a new Euro tax |author=Daniel McConnell |date=November 22, 2009 |publisher=Independent.ie |access-date=February 20, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100227093851/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/eu-president-wants-to-see-a-new-euro-tax-1950730.html |archive-date=February 27, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> This tax would go beyond just financial transactions: "all shopping and petrol would be taxed.".<ref name="Moran" />
Countering him was his sister, Christine Van Rompuy, who said, "any new taxes would directly affect the poor".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/141143/Belgian-PM-Herman-Van-Rompuy-called-clown-by-sister-Christine |title=Belgian PM Herman Van Rompuy called clown by sister Christine |author1=Macer Hall |author2=Alison Little |name-list-style=amp |date=November 19, 2009 |newspaper=Daily Express |access-date=2010-01-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091124012141/http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/141143/Belgian-PM-Herman-Van-Rompuy-called-clown-by-sister-Christine/ |archive-date=November 24, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On June 29, 2011, the European Commission called for Tobin-style taxes on the EU's financial sector to generate direct revenue starting from 2014. At the same time it suggested to reduce existing levies coming from the 27 member states.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/29/ec-proposes-tobin-style-taxes |title=EU calls for 'Tobin' tax in a move to raise direct revenue |author=Ian Traynor |date=June 29, 2011 |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=2011-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930114734/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/29/ec-proposes-tobin-style-taxes |archive-date=September 30, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>

====G20 nations====
The first nation in the [[G20]] group  to formally accept the Tobin tax was Canada.<ref>The G20 is made up of the [[G7]] plus others. The G20 was established in September, 1999, and Canada was part of the original G7. There was no Canadian election between the March 23, 1999 Canadian adoption of the Tobin tax resolution, and the September 1999 formation of the G20, so the government remained the same.</ref> On March 23, 1999, the [[House of Commons of Canada]] passed a resolution directing the government to "enact a tax on financial transactions in concert with the international community."<ref name="Round">{{cite web|url=http://www.newint.org/issue320/tobin.htm|title=Time for Tobin!|author=Robin Round (representative of [[Halifax Initiative]])|date=January–February 2000|publisher=[[New Internationalist]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091206100227/http://www.newint.org/issue320/tobin.htm|archive-date=2009-12-06|url-status=dead|access-date=2009-12-17}}</ref> However,  ten years later, in November 2009, at the G20 finance ministers summit in Scotland, the representatives of the [[Minority governments in Canada|minority government]] of Canada spoke publicly on the world stage in opposition to that [[House of Commons of Canada]] resolution.<ref name="Lukewarm">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8348653.stm |title=Lukewarm reaction to UK tax plan |author=BBC |date=November 7, 2009 |publisher=BBC |access-date=2009-12-17 |author-link=BBC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091110003239/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8348653.stm |archive-date=November 10, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In September 2009, French president [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] brought up the issue of a Tobin tax once again, suggesting it be adopted by the G20.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8264774.stm | work=BBC News | title=Sarkozy to press for 'Tobin Tax' | date=19 September 2009 | access-date=20 September 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090920100903/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8264774.stm | archive-date=20 September 2009 | url-status=live }}</ref>

On November 7, 2009, prime minister Gordon Brown said that G-20 should consider a tax on speculation, although did not specify that it should be on currency trading alone. The BBC reported that there was a negative response to the plan among the G20.<ref name="Lukewarm" />

By December 11, 2009, [[European Union]] leaders expressed broad support for a Tobin tax in a communiqué sent to the [[International Monetary Fund]].<ref name="EUcall" />

For supporters of a Tobin tax, there is a wide range of opinion on who should administer a global Tobin tax and what the revenue should be used for. There are some who think that it should take the form of an insurance: In early November 2009, at the G20 finance ministers summit in Scotland, the British Prime Minister "[[Gordon Brown|Mr. Brown]] and [[Nicolas Sarkozy]], France's president, suggested that revenues from the Tobin tax could be devoted to the world's fight against climate change, especially in developing countries. They suggested that funding could come from "a global financial transactions tax."  However British officials later argued the main point of a financial transactions tax would be provide insurance for the global taxpayer against a future banking crisis."<ref name="EUcall" /><ref name="Lukewarm" />

====The feasibility of gradual implementation of the FTT, beginning with a few EU nations====
This scenario is possible, given the events in May and June, 2010:

* On June 27, 2010, at the [[2010 G-20 Toronto summit]], the G20 leaders declared that a "global tax" was no longer "on the table," but that individual countries will be able to decide whether to implement a [[Bank tax#1. Financial stability contribution (FSC), or "Bank tax"|levy against financial institutions]] to recoup billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded bailouts.<ref name="Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/business/bank/article/829540--banks-relieved-as-g20-backs-off-on-bank-tax |title=Banks relieved as G20 backs off on bank tax |author=Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew |date=June 27, 2010 |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |access-date=24 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607093402/http://www.thestar.com/business/bank/article/829540--banks-relieved-as-g20-backs-off-on-bank-tax |archive-date=7 June 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Nevertheless, Britain, France and Germany had already agreed before the summit to impose a "bank tax."<ref name="Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew" /> On May 20, 2010, German officials were understood to favour a [[financial transaction tax]] over a [[Bank tax#2. Financial Activities Tax (FAT)|financial activities tax]].<ref name="David Charter">{{cite news |url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article7131991.ece |title=Merkel leads calls for global financial tax as markets continue to slide |author=David Charter |date=May 20, 2010 |newspaper=Times Online |access-date=24 June 2010 |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529231504/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article7131991.ece |archive-date=29 May 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=====Simultaneous taxes in the European Union=====
On June 28, 2010, the European Union's executive said it will study whether the European Union should go alone in imposing a [[Financial transaction tax|tax on financial transactions]] after G20 leaders failed to agree on the issue.

The [[financial transaction tax]] would be ''separate'' from a [[Bank tax#1. Financial stability contribution (FSC), or "Bank tax"|bank levy]], or a resolution levy, which some governments are ''also'' proposing to impose on banks to insure them against the costs of any future bailouts. EU leaders instructed their finance ministers, in May, 2010, to work out by the end of October 2010, details for the banking levy, but any financial transaction tax remains much more controversial.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/eu-to-study-bank-transaction-tax-after-g20-reuters_molt-a1825662d825.html?x=0|title= EU to study bank transaction tax after G20|agency= Reuters|date= June 28, 2010|work= Reuters|access-date= 24 June 2010}}{{Dead link|date=August 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

====Latin America – Bank of the South====
In early November 2007, a regional Tobin tax was adopted by the [[Bank of the South]], after an initiative of Presidents [[Hugo Chávez]] from [[Venezuela]] and [[Néstor Kirchner]] from [[Argentina]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sinpermiso.info/textos/index.php?id=1496|title=El Banco del Sur|date=11 November 2007|access-date=19 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118161959/http://www.sinpermiso.info/textos/index.php?id=1496|archive-date=18 November 2007|url-status=live}}</ref>

====UN Global Tax====
According to Stephen Spratt, "the revenues raised could be used for ... international development objectives ... such as meeting the [[Millennium Development Goals]]."(,<ref name="Spratt" /> p.&nbsp;19) These are eight [[international development]] goals that 192 [[United Nations member states]] and at least 23 [[international organizations]] have agreed (in 2000) to achieve by the year 2015. They include reducing [[extreme poverty]], reducing [[child mortality]] rates, fighting disease epidemics such as [[AIDS]], and developing a global partnership for development.<ref>[https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml Background page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113055744/http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml |date=2013-11-13 }}, United Nations Millennium Development Goals website, retrieved 16 June 2009.</ref>

At the UN [[World Conference against Racism 2001|September 2001 World Conference against Racism]], when the issue of [[World Conference against Racism 2001#Compensation for Colonialism and Slavery|compensation for colonialism and slavery arose in the agenda]], [[Fidel Castro]], the President of [[Cuba]], advocated the Tobin Tax to address that issue. (According to Cliff Kincaid, Castro advocated it "specifically in order to generate U.S. financial reparations to the rest of the world," however a closer reading of Castro's speech shows that he never did mention "the rest of the world" as being recipients of revenue.) Castro cited [[Holocaust reparations]] as a previously established precedent for the concept of [[Reparation (legal)|reparation]]s.<ref name="key">{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/WCAR/statements/0109cubaE.htm |title=Key address by Fidel Castro Ruz, President of the Republic of Cuba at the World Conference against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance |author=Fidel Castro |date=September 1, 2001 |publisher=[[United Nations]] |access-date=29 January 2010 |author-link=Fidel Castro |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100212235007/http://www.un.org/WCAR/statements/0109cubaE.htm |archive-date=12 February 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Kincaid">{{cite web |url=http://www.aim.org/aim-column/progressives-back-obama-push-for-global-tax/ |title=Progressives Back Obama Push for Global Tax |author=Cliff Kincaid |date=October 6, 2009 |publisher=Accuracy in Media |access-date=2010-01-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211222923/http://www.aim.org/aim-column/progressives-back-obama-push-for-global-tax/ |archive-date=February 11, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>