Forget the VAT, GST, and NST! Say hello to the FAT

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

IMF gets tough on banks with 'FAT' levy

The International Monetary Fund has proposed two new global levies on banks to be considered at the weekend's meeting of the G20 finance ministers. The first, the "financial stability contribution", is a flat levy to be paid by all banks to generate a self-insurance fund equivalent to 4-5% of each country's GDP, totalling around $1-2tn. It's about the same amount that taxpayers have shelled out to bail out banks in this financial crisis. The second levy, called the "financial activities tax", or FAT, is on the profits and remuneration of banks and this money can be paid into general revenue, meaning that it is not geared for insurance but to deter risk-taking behaviour where banks trade on the implicit guarantee that they are too important to fail, and take home large pay packets while taxpayers pick up their losses.

The first levy on bank balance sheets is essentially what President Obama had proposed in January to recoup taxpayers' money; and the second is what the Labour government had imposed (but as a one-off, windfall tax), which is based on a similar principle, but also in theory would try to change the bonus culture.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/apr/21/imf-levy-bank-fat-tax

[mawilson 2,133]

I hope this "world" BS is not going to catch on.

[Ali G. 37]

I hope this "world" BS is not going to catch on.

Dude, that's a libertarians nightmare.