TAX NEWS - JUNE 2010

Canada Tax: PM takes anti-bank-tax pitch to France

04 June 2010 -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper is meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday morning to try to persuade him to abandon support for a proposed global bank tax.

Harper made a similar pitch to British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday in London, but was unable to convince Cameron he should give up on the idea ahead of the upcoming G8/G20 summits in Canada.

Harper has repeatedly said an international bank tax is not necessary for Canadian financial institutions, given the strength and stability of banks in Canada, compared with other countries.

Canada is pushing for regulation, rather than taxation, and advocating tighter controls over the kinds of high-risk, high-profit investments that required massive taxpayer bailouts.