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By Huw Jones
LONDON, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Banking in Britain paid 40
billion pounds ($52 billion) in taxes in the last financial year
with half from foreign lenders, underscoring the need for a
government rethink on taxes to keep London competitive after
Brexit, UK Finance said on Wednesday.
Banks and their employees paid a total of 39.7 billion
pounds in taxes, or 5.5% of government receipts, unchanged from
the prior year, UK Finance said in a review compiled by
consultants PwC (see graphic).
The tax raised was roughly split between those paid by
employees, and the corporate tax, surcharge on profits and
balance sheet levies paid by the lenders themselves.
The surcharge and levies were introduced after Britain had
to bail out lenders with public money during the financial
crisis a decade ago.
Britain's "fiscal competitiveness" has declined relative to
other global financial centres like New York, where banks have
benefitted from recent cuts in corporate taxes, the review said.
Many banks operating in Britain have opened European Union
hubs in cities like Frankfurt to ensure continuity of service
for EU customers after Britain leaves the bloc.
Banks are moving about a trillion euros in assets from
London to their new subsidiaries, which is likely to lead to a
loss of some UK tax revenue.
The review estimated that the total tax rate for banks in
London is 47.1%, compared with 44.7% in Frankfurt and 33.5% in
New York.
"In this context, maintaining fiscal competitiveness is more
important than ever," the review said.
"This is also vital to ensure a healthy domestic banking
market which can continue to provide credit to support future
growth of the UK economy."
The review also showed a fall in headcount at
UK-headquartered banks due to restructuring, and customers using
online and mobile banking.
While foreign-heaquartered banks hired more staff, this was
due to getting ready for Brexit, implementing IT changes and
mergers, and is unlikely to be indicative of the long-term
trend, the review said.
The sector overall employed 342,413 people, it added.
($1 = 0.7757 pounds)
(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
