In an EC report [PDF 165 KB] summarizing the results of yesterday’s meeting of the ECOFIN (Economic and Financial Affairs) Council, seven Member States— Belgium, Germany, Greece, France, Austria, Portugal, and Slovenia—had already submitted requests to the European Commission (EC) for a proposal to introduce a financial transaction tax via enhanced cooperation, with four— Estonia, Spain, Italy and Slovakia—planning to do so shortly.
The EC Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union stated that once the EC has received notification from the Member States concerned, it is ready to move swiftly and put forward a proposal to authorize enhanced cooperation for discussion during the ECOFIN meeting in November 2012.
KPMG observation
While there is now, in principle, sufficient support for a financial transaction tax to be introduced in a limited number of EU Member States, the actual adoption of such a tax would depend on a number of factors—including the EC’s assessment of the impact of the tax on the internal market and required authorization from the Council.
While it has been suggested that the ultimate draft for a financial transaction tax would be based on the existing EU financial transaction tax proposal, it is possible that the final version may be different (e.g., concerning the scope of the tax).
Read an October 2012 report [PDF 62 KB] prepared by KPMG’s EU Tax Centre: Council discussions of the EU Financial Transaction Tax