Australia’s Tobin Tax: Arguments and evidence

The Australia Institute Policy Brief outlines:

• A tax on financial transactions, known as a “Tobin” tax, could protect superannuation, investors, and improve the operation of Australia’s capital markets and provide a source of tax revenue of over $1 billion per year.
• Tobin taxes or some form of financial transaction tax are in effect in over a dozen jurisdictions internationally, including UK, France, Italy, Hong Kong and South Africa.
• High Frequency Trading (HFT) creates instability which primarily hits retail - or ‘mum and dad’ investors, and super funds. Australia’s super funds and retail investors are losing up to $2 billion per year due to practices such as high-frequency trading.