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英国银行税收新政
UK banks: the levy runs dry（344words）
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The UK bank levy, introduced in 2011, has not obviously made lenders safer, curbed excessive risk-taking by bankers, or directly cut bonuses. But it has served other purposes. It helps UK chancellor George Osborne to balance the books: the levy handed a £2.8bn fillip to public finances in the past tax year. It also rewards taxpayers for their implicit guarantee of the sector.
Still, in his Summer Budget on Wednesday Mr. Osborne said he would reduce the levy over six years, and introduce an 8 per cent tax surcharge on bank profits from next year. Crucially for geographically diversified, UK-based lenders such as HSBC and Standard Chartered, the levy will no longer be calculated on worldwide balance sheets after 2021.
Details are sketchy. It is not clear whether Mr. Osborne’s surcharge is on global or UK profits, for example — but either way it will hit shareholder returns and capital generation when both need to improve. And despite Mr. Osborne’s previous encouragement of challenger banks — which are not subject to the bank levy and had no role in causing the financial crisis — he has hammered them hard with the tax surcharge. Virgin Money shares fell 10 per cent. The surcharge will swiftly penalise banks that are more profitable — and more UK-focused — such as Lloyds Banking Group . But Mr. Osborne will not be bothered, given the £1.7bn the Treasury expects to rake in by 2021 as the new tax offsets the reducing levy.
HSBC and Stan Chart will benefit only if the surcharge is based on UK profits, and the levy will not disappear completely. The levy is harsh on HSBC. Less than half of its assets are in Europe, but it paid more than 40 per cent of the £1.7bn total for the big four UK banks last year. No surprise that it is considering moving its HQ to Hong Kong. It may yet do so.
Mr. Osborne claims Britain is open for business, yet his budget changes (so soon after March’s levy increase) and continued intervention in UK banks convey a message of unpredictability.
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