|
|
The tax is partly intended to prevent emerging divergence among EU Member States, following moves by France and Italy to introduce national FTTs in August 2012 and March, respectively. However, these pre-existing regimes are hampering negotiations, with France pushing for a more limited tax in line with its own, according to public affairs experts.
Several participating countries are pushing for pension funds to be excluded from the scope of the tax, while Belgium, Slovenia and Slovakia are pushing for exemptions for repurchase agreements.
Concerns are also growing as to the impact of the tax on key G20 dossiers produced by the Internal Market and Services unit of the Commission. The Presidency has asked the Commission to provide feedback on “the consistency of the FTT proposals” with the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and the European Market Infrastructure Regulation. Paul Crean, tax director at accountancy firm BDO, said: “If they can’t get it through with this limited number, then I think some countries will probably go their own way". The Irish Presidency did not reply to a request for comment in time for publication.
Full article (FN subscription required)