Editing Tobin tax (section)

===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>