Commenting on today’s announcement that the bank levy will increase from 0.105 % of banks’ balance sheets to 0.130%, Tom Aston, financial services tax partner at KPMG commented:
“This is the fifth successive increase in the bank levy over three years – probably some kind of tax record.
“News of the increase will be wearyingly familiar for banks, and is an alarming symptom of how rapidly banks’ balance sheets are shrinking. There is an element of the government chasing its own tail at each Budget and Autumn Statement in order to ensure that the bank levy yield still meets the magic £2.5 billion figure.
“Banks will now question whether Government policy objectives are joined up. At one end of the Treasury and within BIS the focus is on increasing lending to business whilst at the other end of the same building disincentives are being created for Banks that actually do lend.”
Ends
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KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, is a subsidiary of KPMG Europe LLP and operates from 22 offices across the UK with over 11,000 partners and staff. The UK firm recorded a turnover of £1.7 billion in the year ended September 2011. KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. We operate in 152 countries and have 145,000 professionals working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity. KPMG International provides no client services.
