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The Robin Hood Tax

This is a longstanding tax initiative with a new relevance. It was initially proposed by Professor James Tobin in 1978, who felt that banks were unstable and under-contributed to the public good.

In early 2010 “the Tobin Tax” was taken up by PCS as part of a coalition of NGOs and trade unions and rebranded The Robin Hood Tax. The intention of this financial transfer tax (FTT) is to levy an average 0.05% on currency transfers primarily by investment banks and hedge funds, rather than the high street banks and pension funds. Therefore almost all the tax will fall on that section of the population that is best able to pay it.

50% of the proceeds of such a tax will be retained domestically to fund public services; 25% earmarked for combating climate change in developing countries, and 25% spent on international development using the UN Millennium Development Goals as a benchmark. With the exception of Britain, the G8 countries are US$ 20bn short of their 2005 G8 Gleneagles commitments to double aid. The FTT is not intended primarily to finance new commitments on development – it could be used to finance existing commitments.

The Robin Hood Tax campaign wants all 3 main political parties to make a commitment to implementing a FTT as part of their manifesto commitments in the run-up to the General Election.

Find out how you can help make the tax a reality by visiting the Robin Hood Tax website.