The "Robin Hood Tax" - could it work here?

[yehbut_nobut]

www.rht-ireland.org/rht/how-it-works

It's quite simple: if someone makes a financial transaction in a business manner (such as speculating on shares or currencies) the tax payer takes back 0.05% as a "Robin Hood" fee. This money is then used to help the poor, set up social systems, and fight climate change - in Ireland and abroad.

It's a tiny fee to charge and is not charged to individuals who are simply buying holiday currency or buying a few shares as a college fund for the kids.

With the amount of financial transactions going on in Ireland (in the IFSC, for example), and with us being the "Wild West of European Finance", then there is potential for huge gains.

We DO NOT propose a tax on the profits of banks, as banks are liable to make losses, rather we propose a tax on financial transactions, as this means it's only people/businesses wth money already who are affected. And we're only asking for 0.05% (that's only 5 cents in every €100 - surely this is an affordable tax!).

Basically, we take (a small bit) from the rich and give it to the poor. It's not radical, it's simple - and it's the moral thing to do.

Just discovered this site/ campaign. Seems to be an offshoot of a UK based campaign. Will it catch on?

[Binn Beal]

Taxing the rich? No, it'll never catch on here - until the real change of government.

[AntiPublicSectorGreed]

As someone who trades regularly, I would support this tax.

0.05% is negligible to real investors. It is only a problem for those speculators who are trading with large amounts of leverage (ie borrowed money), or those engaged in high frequency trading (HFT).

HFT is a very dubious business and shouldnt be facilitated. The Robin Hood Tax (aka Tobin tax) is a great idea to make the HFT traders pay a price for the volatility and instability they are causing on markets, while also generating tax.

The principle of taxing useless activities like speculation instead of taxing productive activities like work, is one we should be embracing and moving towards. Robin Hood taxes could be used to fund the elimination of the universal social charge which is a tax on the working poor.

However, big finance has already watered down the RHT, at a european level, and has managed to have its implementaion deferred until 2014. You can be sure they will create all kinds of loopholes to get around paying this tax, like moving their trading operations outside the EU. The RHT needs to be implemented globally. Obama has been bought off by Goldman and Citibank, so there is no chance of america implementing it.