TAX NEWS - June 2010

France Tax: Lagarde: G20 Will See Need To Agree On Principles Behind Bank Tax

PARIS -- French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde Thursday said there will be an understanding of the need to agree on common principles behind a tax on financial institutions at the summit of the Group of 20 industrial and developing nations, scheduled later this month in Toronto.

The issue of imposing a global levy on financial institutions proved divisive at Saturday's G20 meeting of finance ministers in Busan, South Korea, with countries such as Canada against a tax, while a number of European countries support such a move.

"I know the G20 in Toronto will insist on the necessity of agreeing on common principles on which this tax will be developed," Lagarde said at the French parliament Thursday.

"France will be at the head this debate and this fight," Lagarde said.

France is supported by Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. in its push for a tax that will target systemic risk in the financial sector, Lagarde said.

At Saturday's G20 finance ministers meeting, Lagarde had acknowledged that not every country would be ready for a bank tax and that it was no longer being discussed as necessarily global measure.

The Toronto summit begins June 26.