Supertax on bank bonuses to rake in 2.5 bn pounds for UK govt

LONDON: The special tax on bonuses paid by the banks will result in earnings of more than 2.5 billion pounds for the UK government, says a media report.

A survey of 16 global banks conducted by British daily 'Financial Times' showed that supertax on bonuses would reap over 2.5 billion pounds for the UK Treasury.

This would be a large windfall for the government ahead of the general election, it added.

Attributing to government insiders, the report said the receipts of 2.5 billion pounds would exceed by about 1.5 billion pounds the total tax take from a bigger bank bonus pool anticipated before the supertax was imposed.

"The 1.5 billion pounds is nearly three times the 550 million pounds Alistair Darling, chancellor, predicted in December when he announced the payroll surcharge on all bonuses above 25,000 pounds," the daily noted.

In the wake of the British government unveiling supertax, some banks had slashed their bonus pools.

Going by the report, only the UK and France are the major economies to impose a special bonus tax.

"Among the banks that have publicly disclosed their bonus tax expenses, Barclays (225 million pounds), HSBC (235 million pounds), Royal Bank of Scotland (208 million pounds) and Deutsche Bank (204 million pounds) are facing the biggest bills," the daily said.