Russia has no plans to impose a tax on banks similar to one proposed by some European countries as it seeks to turn Moscow into a global financial hub, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov told lawmakers Wednesday.
The government’s attitude to the levy is “negative,” Shuvalov told the Federation Council, according to his press service. “It’s not part of our plan to create an international financial center, and we are carefully monitoring all possible restrictions of a financial and tax-related character.”
Russia is ready to take a “decisive step forward” in efforts to turn Moscow into a global financial center and will use tax incentives and other free-market economic policies to turn the country into a destination for innovators from around the world, President Dmitry Medvedev said last week.
Britain will impose a levy on banks and raise the sales tax to tackle the largest fiscal shortfall in the G20 and curb banks’ reliance on short-term funding, which helped trigger the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression.
Germany and France have also jointly called for taxes on bank balance sheets in a bid to overcome opposition to the proposal by other members of the Group of 20 before this week’s summit.
The government “doesn’t support such a tax,” Shuvalov said. Arkady Dvorkovich, an economic adviser to Medvedev, said June 21 that a levy on banks “may result in negative consequences,” adding that he doubted G20 leaders would make a joint decision on the tax when they convene in Toronto on June 26 to 27.
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