Investigate possible reforms to the way VAT is applied to goods and services with a view to making it less regressive and, ultimately, to remove the poorest from having to pay entirely. This may require renegotiating our obligations to the EU, which makes VAT compulsory for all member states.
Introduce a tax on financial transactions, commonly known as a "Robin Hood Tax". To increase friction in speculative financial markets, a tax of around 0.05% would be levied on on transactions like stocks, bonds, foreign currency and derivatives.[^1]
We will support research into a universal basic income and its effects on society and the economy, with the aim of eradicating poverty and providing a basic standard of living for all.
Ensure worker-owned cooperatives and mutuals are given priority with all government contracts.
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^1].
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^2].
The central bank will be required to consider the reduction of inequality (as measured by the GINI coefficient) when formulating monetary policy to balance its existing remit of maintaining price stability and inflation at 2%.
[^1]: Stop Secret Contracts
[^1]: Robin Hood Tax Campaign [^2]: Stop Secret Contracts
Strongly against. Seems counterproductive and economically backwards.
This seems to be the wrong way to tackle the problem of speculation (which arguably isn't even that big a problem as long as people are speculating with their own money).
And there is a big downside: A transaction tax will substantially reduce liquidity in markets, which reduces economic opportunities for everyone, not just speculators. Not to mention the cost of administering / enforcing such a scheme.
Also from a practical perspective there are serious issues: - it seems impossible to set a transaction tax at the right rate for all markets. A single flat rate would not work effectively (in many markets it would either be too small to make a difference, or too big and kill the market entirely) - it would be easy for financial markets to evade via other means, e.g. structuring contracts for difference in ways that replicate the bet but avoid the some or all of transaction tax. This plays into the hands of the big institutions who can do this while penalising the small guys - it hurts players who are providing stability to the market by betting against speculators
A far better approach would be to tackle speculation directly, via better regulation on taking leveraged 1-way bets, or prohibiting speculation that involves cornering markets. I.e. target the stuff that is actually harmful, not economic translations in their entirety
I have no strong views on such a tax, per se, but I think it's important to note whether this is distinct from the proposed EU Financial Transaction Tax. It may be simpler for the policy to simply be to support that, rather than doing something standalone/different.
Oh, good link - let me look into it, I may be duplicating existing efforts.
Yep, that's totally the same thing. I'll update this to propose that we should join it, as opposed to staying out as we are now.
Investigate possible reforms to the way VAT is applied to goods and services with a view to making it less regressive and, ultimately, to remove the poorest from having to pay entirely. This may require renegotiating our obligations to the EU, which makes VAT compulsory for all member states.
Introduce a tax on financial transactions, commonly known as a "Robin Hood Tax". To increase friction in speculative financial markets, we will join the EU Financial Transaction Tax[^1].
We will support research into a universal basic income and its effects on society and the economy, with the aim of eradicating poverty and providing a basic standard of living for all.
Ensure worker-owned cooperatives and mutuals are given priority with all government contracts.
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^1].
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^2].
The central bank will be required to consider the reduction of inequality (as measured by the GINI coefficient) when formulating monetary policy to balance its existing remit of maintaining price stability and inflation at 2%.
[^1]: Stop Secret Contracts
@philipjohn - over 9 years ago
Done! It's a 👍 from me.
@PaulJRobinson Could you add your vote again please?
@mikera @tmtmtmtm Keen to get your votes now on this proposal
I'm still finding the wording a little confusing, as it's not completely clear whether the two sentences are meant to be saying essentially the same thing, or whether it's two overlapping, yet distinct, proposals.
There's also a slight ambiguity as to what it means to "join" the tax: is the proposal to implement it: 1. no matter what anyone else does 2. as long as at least some other EU states do 3. simultaneously with a Eurozone-wide implementation 4. only if the entire EU does?
I'd happily vote yes on 3 and 4; the first two I'm a little more uncertain about.
I'd also be open to a wording that says we'd help work towards a unanimous implementation, but would consider any lesser plan carefully.
@philipjohn - over 9 years ago
Sounds like you have a far better handle on this than we do @tmtmtmtm :) So in the interests of collaboration, do you fancy drafting some wording that you think adequately does the job? We'll have a consensus then too :)
Investigate possible reforms to the way VAT is applied to goods and services with a view to making it less regressive and, ultimately, to remove the poorest from having to pay entirely. This may require renegotiating our obligations to the EU, which makes VAT compulsory for all member states.
Introduce a tax on financial transactions, commonly known as a "Robin Hood Tax", to raise funds and reduce instability from financial speculation. We will do this by joining the proposed EU Financial Transaction Tax[^1] system, which is planned to start in 10 countries across Europe during 2016.
We will support research into a universal basic income and its effects on society and the economy, with the aim of eradicating poverty and providing a basic standard of living for all.
Ensure worker-owned cooperatives and mutuals are given priority with all government contracts.
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^1].
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^2].
The central bank will be required to consider the reduction of inequality (as measured by the GINI coefficient) when formulating monetary policy to balance its existing remit of maintaining price stability and inflation at 2%.
[^1]: Stop Secret Contracts
@tmtmtmtm I've had another crack at the wording in an attempt to answer your question. See what you think.
Investigate possible reforms to the way VAT is applied to goods and services with a view to making it less regressive and, ultimately, to remove the poorest from having to pay entirely. This may require renegotiating our obligations to the EU, which makes VAT compulsory for all member states.
Introduce a tax on financial transactions, commonly known as a "Robin Hood Tax", to raise funds and reduce instability from financial speculation. We will do this by joining the proposed EU Financial Transaction Tax[^1] system, which is planned to start in 10 countries across Europe during 2016 (including France, Germany, Belgium, Italy and Spain).
We will support research into a universal basic income and its effects on society and the economy, with the aim of eradicating poverty and providing a basic standard of living for all.
Ensure worker-owned cooperatives and mutuals are given priority with all government contracts.
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^1].
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^2].
The central bank will be required to consider the reduction of inequality (as measured by the GINI coefficient) when formulating monetary policy to balance its existing remit of maintaining price stability and inflation at 2%.
[^1]: Stop Secret Contracts
Investigate possible reforms to the way VAT is applied to goods and services with a view to making it less regressive and, ultimately, to remove the poorest from having to pay entirely. This may require renegotiating our obligations to the EU, which makes VAT compulsory for all member states.
Introduce a tax on financial transactions, commonly known as a "Robin Hood Tax", to raise funds and reduce instability from financial speculation. We will do this by joining the proposed EU Financial Transaction Tax[^1] system, which is planned to start in 10 countries across Europe during 2016 (including France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Estonia).
We will support research into a universal basic income and its effects on society and the economy, with the aim of eradicating poverty and providing a basic standard of living for all.
Ensure worker-owned cooperatives and mutuals are given priority with all government contracts.
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^1].
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^2].
The central bank will be required to consider the reduction of inequality (as measured by the GINI coefficient) when formulating monetary policy to balance its existing remit of maintaining price stability and inflation at 2%.
[^1]: Stop Secret Contracts
@mikera the EU FTT is apparently designed not to impact the "real" economy. Worth having a read of the wikipedia writeup, see if it addresses your concerns.
Investigate possible reforms to the way VAT is applied to goods and services with a view to making it less regressive and, ultimately, to remove the poorest from having to pay entirely. This may require renegotiating our obligations to the EU, which makes VAT compulsory for all member states.
Introduce a tax on financial speculation, commonly known as a "Robin Hood Tax". We will do this by joining the proposed EU Financial Transaction Tax[^1] system, which is planned to start in 10 countries across Europe during 2016 (including France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Estonia). We would also work to create a global system to prevent avoidance.
We will support research into a universal basic income and its effects on society and the economy, with the aim of eradicating poverty and providing a basic standard of living for all.
Ensure worker-owned cooperatives and mutuals are given priority with all government contracts.
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^1].
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^2].
The central bank will be required to consider the reduction of inequality (as measured by the GINI coefficient) when formulating monetary policy to balance its existing remit of maintaining price stability and inflation at 2%.
[^1]: Stop Secret Contracts
Sorry guys, still tweaking; added a point about global system. Can you vote again?
I'm a little hesitant on the new additional wording, I'm afraid — at least without further elaboration. What's the idea here?
basically any system will work better the more widely it's implemented, so as well as joining the EU one, we'd want to push for a global deal.
It may just be the wording but "work to create a global system to prevent avoidance" seems quite strong. We've already seen how difficult it is to even get an EU-wide version agreed — what sorts of actions are you proposing to take against countries who don't implement such a tax?
Investigate possible reforms to the way VAT is applied to goods and services with a view to making it less regressive and, ultimately, to remove the poorest from having to pay entirely. This may require renegotiating our obligations to the EU, which makes VAT compulsory for all member states.
Introduce a tax on financial speculation, commonly known as a "Robin Hood Tax". We will do this by joining the proposed EU Financial Transaction Tax[^1] system, which is planned to start in 10 countries across Europe during 2016 (including France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Estonia). We would also work with international organisations to create a global FTT regime.
We will support research into a universal basic income and its effects on society and the economy, with the aim of eradicating poverty and providing a basic standard of living for all.
Ensure worker-owned cooperatives and mutuals are given priority with all government contracts.
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^1].
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^2].
The central bank will be required to consider the reduction of inequality (as measured by the GINI coefficient) when formulating monetary policy to balance its existing remit of maintaining price stability and inflation at 2%.
[^1]: Stop Secret Contracts
Tried to improve the wording again around the global FTT regime. Basically I'm trying to say that we'd join the EU FTT system, but with the understanding that to work properly in a globalised economic system, the tax needs to be global.
I'm a strong believer in meddling in other countries' affairs as little as possible, and I'm distrustful of most attempts to create a global regime for anything. But I'd be OK with wording like "We would also work with international organisations to broaden such a regime beyond the EU".
Investigate possible reforms to the way VAT is applied to goods and services with a view to making it less regressive and, ultimately, to remove the poorest from having to pay entirely. This may require renegotiating our obligations to the EU, which makes VAT compulsory for all member states.
Introduce a tax on financial speculation, commonly known as a "Robin Hood Tax". We will do this by joining the proposed EU Financial Transaction Tax[^1] system, which is planned to start in 10 countries across Europe during 2016 (including France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Estonia). We would also work with international organisations to broaden such a regime beyond the EU.
We will support research into a universal basic income and its effects on society and the economy, with the aim of eradicating poverty and providing a basic standard of living for all.
Ensure worker-owned cooperatives and mutuals are given priority with all government contracts.
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^1].
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^2].
The central bank will be required to consider the reduction of inequality (as measured by the GINI coefficient) when formulating monetary policy to balance its existing remit of maintaining price stability and inflation at 2%.
[^1]: Stop Secret Contracts
Investigate possible reforms to the way VAT is applied to goods and services with a view to making it less regressive and, ultimately, to remove the poorest from having to pay entirely. This may require renegotiating our obligations to the EU, which makes VAT compulsory for all member states.
Introduce a tax on financial speculation, commonly known as a "Robin Hood Tax". We will do this by joining the proposed EU Financial Transaction Tax[^1] system, which is planned to start in 10 countries across Europe during 2016 (including France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Estonia). We would also work to create a global system to prevent avoidance.
We will support research into a universal basic income and its effects on society and the economy, with the aim of eradicating poverty and providing a basic standard of living for all.
Adopt Land Value Taxation (LVT)[^2], a charge on the rental value of land not including any improvements made on the site (such as buildings, drainage and services). Valuation to be based on market evidence, in accordance with the optimum use of the land within the planning regulations and updated regularly (at least every 2 years)[^3][^4]. LVT would replace Council Tax, Uniform Business Rates, and Stamp Duty. There will be two rates of Land Value Tax - a national rate and a local rate. The national rate will be decoded after consultation and research. The local rate will be set at the discretion of each local authority. Public open space, public transport infrastructure and open water will all be exempt from LVT. Local and national government property will not be exempt, to encourage the efficient allocation of publicly owned assets.
Adopt Land Value Taxation (LVT)[^3], a charge on the rental value of land not including any improvements made on the site (such as buildings, drainage and services). Valuation to be based on market evidence, in accordance with the optimum use of the land within the planning regulations and updated regularly (at least every 2 years)[^4][^5]. LVT would replace Council Tax, Uniform Business Rates, and Stamp Duty. There will be two rates of Land Value Tax - a national rate and a local rate. The national rate will be decoded after consultation and research. The local rate will be set at the discretion of each local authority. Public open space, public transport infrastructure and open water will all be exempt from LVT. Local and national government property will not be exempt, to encourage the efficient allocation of publicly owned assets.
Ensure worker-owned cooperatives and mutuals are given priority with all government contracts.
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^1].
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^2].
The central bank will be required to consider the reduction of inequality (as measured by the GINI coefficient) when formulating monetary policy to balance its existing remit of maintaining price stability and inflation at 2%.
[^1]: Stop Secret Contracts [^2]: Land Value Taxation Campaign - What is LVT? [^3]: A Land Value Tax for England [^4]: A Land Value Tax for Scotland
Follow recommendations regarding transparency in the Lyons Housing Review - "To ensure greater transparency in the land market, the Land Registry should open up land ownership information to the public in a similar manner as the property price paid data set and make it a legal requirement to register land option agreements, transactions and prices."
Investigate possible reforms to the way VAT is applied to goods and services with a view to making it less regressive and, ultimately, to remove the poorest from having to pay entirely. This may require renegotiating our obligations to the EU, which makes VAT compulsory for all member states.
Introduce a tax on financial speculation, commonly known as a "Robin Hood Tax". We will do this by joining the proposed EU Financial Transaction Tax[^1] system, which is planned to start in 10 countries across Europe during 2016 (including France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Estonia). We would also work with international organisations to broaden such a regime beyond the EU.
We will support research into a universal basic income and its effects on society and the economy, with the aim of eradicating poverty and providing a basic standard of living for all.
Adopt Land Value Taxation (LVT)[^2], a charge on the rental value of land not including any improvements made on the site (such as buildings, drainage and services). Valuation to be based on market evidence, in accordance with the optimum use of the land within the planning regulations and updated regularly (at least every 2 years)[^3][^4]. LVT would replace Council Tax, Uniform Business Rates, and Stamp Duty. There will be two rates of Land Value Tax - a national rate and a local rate. The national rate will be decoded after consultation and research. The local rate will be set at the discretion of each local authority. Public open space, public transport infrastructure and open water will all be exempt from LVT. Local and national government property will not be exempt, to encourage the efficient allocation of publicly owned assets.
Adopt Land Value Taxation (LVT)[^3], a charge on the rental value of land not including any improvements made on the site (such as buildings, drainage and services). Valuation to be based on market evidence, in accordance with the optimum use of the land within the planning regulations and updated regularly (at least every 2 years)[^4][^5]. LVT would replace Council Tax, Uniform Business Rates, and Stamp Duty. There will be two rates of Land Value Tax - a national rate and a local rate. The national rate will be decoded after consultation and research. The local rate will be set at the discretion of each local authority. Public open space, public transport infrastructure and open water will all be exempt from LVT. Local and national government property will not be exempt, to encourage the efficient allocation of publicly owned assets.
Ensure worker-owned cooperatives and mutuals are given priority with all government contracts.
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^1].
All private companies who receive public money must be subject to the same transparency requirements as governments when it comes to the goods and services they deliver[^2].
The central bank will be required to consider the reduction of inequality (as measured by the GINI coefficient) when formulating monetary policy to balance its existing remit of maintaining price stability and inflation at 2%.
[^1]: Stop Secret Contracts [^2]: Land Value Taxation Campaign - What is LVT? [^3]: A Land Value Tax for England [^4]: A Land Value Tax for Scotland
Follow recommendations regarding transparency in the Lyons Housing Review - "To ensure greater transparency in the land market, the Land Registry should open up land ownership information to the public in a similar manner as the property price paid data set and make it a legal requirement to register land option agreements, transactions and prices."
The OpenPolitics Manifesto
@Floppy - over 9 years ago