Sweden plans to introduce a tax for banks on defense against the Russian Federation

04.09.2019 The Swedish government plans to introduce a new tax in the financial industry in order to increase defense spending to counter Russia's buildup of military power in the Baltic Sea. This was announced by Minister Magdalena Anderson in the interview with Bloomberg.

This proposal is another attempt by the ruling party of the Social Democrats to force the financial industry to make a greater contribution to the state treasury. The party’s previous attempts to raise bank taxes have failed following a clash with EU competition rules and the possibility of putting Swedish companies at a competitive disadvantage.

Anderson noted that banks pose a risk to the country's economy, and they may also need help from the state in cases of financial crisis, so it would be logical to tax them to compensate for possible costs.

The Swedish Bankers Association, criticizing the proposal, said that banks already pay fairly high fees to allow the state to cope with financial crises.

The tax is planned to be introduced by 2022.

On materials of the following website: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-31/swedish-banks-to-foot-the-bill-as-russia-prompts-...