As Britain's new Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healy, is preparing his first fall budget in October, the British banking industry is putting intense pressure on the government to strongly oppose further increases in industry taxes. UK Finance, the most influential industry association in the UK, wrote to Healy on Thursday, clearly stating that raising banking taxes in the fall budget would “damage the UK's international competitiveness.” A few days earlier, J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon also issued a similar warning to Healy on the phone, saying that additional taxes on banks would lead to an outflow of capital and financial jobs. David Postins, CEO of UK Finance, strongly objected in his letter. He pointed out that the current comprehensive tax rate for the British banking industry has reached 46.6%, which is significantly higher than international financial centers such as Amsterdam, Dublin, Frankfurt and New York. Furthermore, the UK has added an undeductible balance sheet tax on top of bank profit surcharges. This kind of “double taxation” is extremely uncompetitive internationally. Postins stressed that the banking sector paid more than 43 billion pounds in taxes last year, accounting for 4.3% of the country's total tax revenue, and more than half of the high-value jobs are located outside of London. He warned that in a context where competitors are working to improve the competitiveness of the domestic banking industry, if the UK continues to raise the tax burden on specific industries, it will not only disrupt the government's established economic growth agenda, but may also weaken its position as the preferred investment location for global financial services. He called on the government to promote tax and regulatory policies in the same direction to support the sustainable development of the industry.

As Britain's new Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healy, is preparing his first fall budget in October, the British banking industry is putting intense pressure on the government to strongly oppose further increases in industry taxes. UK Finance, the most influential industry association in the UK, wrote to Healy on Thursday, clearly stating that raising banking taxes in the fall budget would “damage the UK's international competitiveness.” A few days earlier, J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon also issued a similar warning to Healy on the phone, saying that additional taxes on banks would lead to an outflow of capital and financial jobs. David Postins, CEO of UK Finance, strongly objected in his letter. He pointed out that the current comprehensive tax rate for the British banking industry has reached 46.6%, which is significantly higher than international financial centers such as Amsterdam, Dublin, Frankfurt and New York. Furthermore, the UK has added an undeductible balance sheet tax on top of bank profit surcharges. This kind of “double taxation” is extremely uncompetitive internationally. Postins stressed that the banking sector paid more than 43 billion pounds in taxes last year, accounting for 4.3% of the country's total tax revenue, and more than half of the high-value jobs are located outside of London. He warned that in a context where competitors are working to improve the competitiveness of the domestic banking industry, if the UK continues to raise the tax burden on specific industries, it will not only disrupt the government's established economic growth agenda, but may also weaken its position as the preferred investment location for global financial services. He called on the government to promote tax and regulatory policies in the same direction to support the sustainable development of the industry.