Finance Bill — Clause 73 — Tax on Bankers' Bonuses — 5 Jul 2011 at 18:30

The majority of MPs voted against requiring the chancellor to review the possibility of reintroducing a tax on bankers' bonuses (known as a bank payroll tax) and against requiring him to report on how the additional revenue raised would be invested to create new jobs and tackle unemployment.

A "bank payroll tax" was levied as a one-off in 2009^[1].

MPs were considering the Finance Act^[2]. The amendment rejected in this vote was:

• amendment 13, page 42, line 30, at end insert—
• ‘(2) The Chancellor of the Exchequer shall review the possibility of incorporating a bank payroll tax within the bank levy^[2] and publish a report, within six months of the passing of this Act, on how the additional revenue raised would be invested to create new jobs and tackle unemployment.’.

This subsection would have been added to clause 73 of the Finance Bill which is titled "Bank Levy"^[3]. The Bank Levy itsself is provided for by Schedule 19 of the Finance Act 2011^[1]; it raises a tax on banks based on their total applicable liabilities and equities. A bank payroll tax was first introduced by Section 22 of the Finance Act 2010^[4]; Schedule 1 of that Act^[5] set the rate of the bank payroll tax at 50% which applied to bank bonuses exceeding £25,000.

• [1] Schedule 19 of the Finance Act 2011 which provides for the Bank Levy
• [2] Parliament's webpage on the Finance Bill
• [3] Clause 73 of the Finance Bill as at the time of the vote
• [4] Section 22 of the Finance Act 2010
• [5] Schedule 1 of the Finance Act 2010

Debate in Parliament | Source |