Britain to Place Supertax on Banker’s Bonuses

Alex Brummer, The Daily Mail UK reports:

“Raising taxes is never normally a popular step for any Chancellor. But Alistair Darling is unlikely to encounter much opposition when he announces tomorrow that he has decided to impose a supertax on the ferociously large bonuses that bankers have earned on the back of the taxpayer….

“If ever there were a time when the nation could have expected the banks to show restraint it was over the last year. After all, without the enormous subsidies from taxpayers in Britain, the United States and on the Continent, many of the most famous names in banking would not even exist today….

“There can be little doubt that the Government’s decision to tackle the proposed bonuses to be paid by the banks is partly due to the naivety of the board of the Royal Bank of Scotland headed by Sir Philip Hampton and Stephen Hester. Their disclosure that the board had set aside an estimated £1.5billion for bonuses earned in 2009 – and that the bank’s directors were prepared to resign en masse if the authorities vetoed those bonuses – left the Government with little choice but to play hardball.”

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