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Hypotetisk FTT-lagstiftning - Diskrepans i definition kan resultera i skattearbitrage, särskilt med avseende på CFD-kontrakt

Höjman, Niklas LU (2014) JURM02 20141
Department of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
Finansiella tjänster och transaktioner har länge varit undantagna indirekt beskattning. I följd av gångna kriser, både finanskrisen och eurokrisen, har debatten blossat upp angående beskattning av den finansiella sektorn. Efter G-20 mötet i Toronto 2010 startade arbetet på europeisk nivå, vilket 2011 resulterade i ett förslag till FTT-direktivet. I dagsläget är det endast 11 länder som godtagit direktivförslaget och dessutom ska transaktionsskatten redan ha blivit införd, vilket får dess status att framstå som något oklar.

Men trots oklarheter kring om och när skatten ska införas så kan man spekulera i vad resultatet av en inkorporering av FTT i svensk rätt kommer att bli, dvs. en hypotetisk FTT-lagstiftning. I uppsatsen undersöks hur... (More)
Finansiella tjänster och transaktioner har länge varit undantagna indirekt beskattning. I följd av gångna kriser, både finanskrisen och eurokrisen, har debatten blossat upp angående beskattning av den finansiella sektorn. Efter G-20 mötet i Toronto 2010 startade arbetet på europeisk nivå, vilket 2011 resulterade i ett förslag till FTT-direktivet. I dagsläget är det endast 11 länder som godtagit direktivförslaget och dessutom ska transaktionsskatten redan ha blivit införd, vilket får dess status att framstå som något oklar.

Men trots oklarheter kring om och när skatten ska införas så kan man spekulera i vad resultatet av en inkorporering av FTT i svensk rätt kommer att bli, dvs. en hypotetisk FTT-lagstiftning. I uppsatsen undersöks hur räckvidden av en FTT hade sett ut, givet rättsläget som gäller idag, ur ett skatterättsligt perspektiv. Centralt kring FTT är att den klassificerar samtliga finansiella produkter i två kategorier; finansiella instrument och derivatinstrument. Dessa två kategorier utsätts för två olika skattesatser som skiljer sig åt betydligt. Det blir därför intressant att se omfattningen av respektive definition i gällande svensk rätt.

Till följd av att FTT endast delar in samtliga finansiella produkter i två kategorier kan det finnas möjlighet till skattearbitrage. Utöver en generell genomgång av finansiella produkters egenskaper har jag selektivt valt att utgå från CFD-kontrakt för att analysera om skattearbitrage kan bli aktuellt. I enlighet med gällande rättspraxis klassificeras CFD-kontraktet som ett terminskontrakt, därigenom ett derivatinstrument. Till följd av att en investering i CFD har samma kassaflöden som en direktinvestering i den underliggande tillgången, exempelvis nollkupongobligationer, blir skattearbitrage möjligt. På detta sätt kan en investerare genom att välja att köpa CFD-kontrakt till förmån för att direktinvestera i nollkupongobligationer uppnå en olikhet i transaktionsskatt, vilket utgör ett skattearbitrage. (Less)
Abstract
Financial services and transactions have since long been excluded from taxes, when it comes to indirect taxes. After the past period of crisis, both the financial and the Eurozone crisis, the debate concerning taxation of the financial sector has enflamed. The work began on a European level after the G-20 meeting in Toronto 2010, which resulted in a proposal for the FTT-directive. There have so far only been 11 countries accepting the FTT, which makes the FTT’s status rather unclear since it is supposed to be implemented during 2014.

Even though some details regarding the FTT is uncertain, such as if and when it is going to be implemented, it is still interesting what the result of an implemented FTT would be in Swedish law. In this... (More)
Financial services and transactions have since long been excluded from taxes, when it comes to indirect taxes. After the past period of crisis, both the financial and the Eurozone crisis, the debate concerning taxation of the financial sector has enflamed. The work began on a European level after the G-20 meeting in Toronto 2010, which resulted in a proposal for the FTT-directive. There have so far only been 11 countries accepting the FTT, which makes the FTT’s status rather unclear since it is supposed to be implemented during 2014.

Even though some details regarding the FTT is uncertain, such as if and when it is going to be implemented, it is still interesting what the result of an implemented FTT would be in Swedish law. In this thesis the range of the FTT will be examined from a tax law perspective. What is essential with the FTT is that it classifies all financial products in two categories; financial instruments and derivatives. These two categories are subject to two different tax rates, which differ considerably. It will therefore be interesting to see the extent of respective definition under current Swedish law.

Since the FTT only divides all financial products in two categories, I will examine if there may be an opportunity for tax arbitrage. In addition to a general review of the financial products, I have selectively chosen to use the CFD-contract to analyse whether tax arbitrage is a possibility. In accordance with existing jurisprudence, the CFD is classified as a futures contract, thereby a derivative instrument. As a result of an investment in CFD, which has the same cash flow as a direct investment in the underlying asset, a tax arbitrage is possible. In this way an investor can choose to buy CFDs, for the benefit of directly investing in for example zero coupon bonds, achieve a difference in transaction tax and thus obtain a tax arbitrage. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Höjman, Niklas LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Hypothetical FTT regulation - The discrepancies in the definition may result in tax arbitrage, particularly with respect to CFD
course
JURM02 20141
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
skatterätt FTT CFD skattearbitrage
language
Swedish
id
4437862
date added to LUP
2014-06-12 08:44:53
date last changed
2017-01-27 15:51:36
@misc{4437862,
  abstract     = {{Financial services and transactions have since long been excluded from taxes, when it comes to indirect taxes. After the past period of crisis, both the financial and the Eurozone crisis, the debate concerning taxation of the financial sector has enflamed. The work began on a European level after the G-20 meeting in Toronto 2010, which resulted in a proposal for the FTT-directive. There have so far only been 11 countries accepting the FTT, which makes the FTT’s status rather unclear since it is supposed to be implemented during 2014. 

Even though some details regarding the FTT is uncertain, such as if and when it is going to be implemented, it is still interesting what the result of an implemented FTT would be in Swedish law. In this thesis the range of the FTT will be examined from a tax law perspective. What is essential with the FTT is that it classifies all financial products in two categories; financial instruments and derivatives. These two categories are subject to two different tax rates, which differ considerably. It will therefore be interesting to see the extent of respective definition under current Swedish law. 

Since the FTT only divides all financial products in two categories, I will examine if there may be an opportunity for tax arbitrage. In addition to a general review of the financial products, I have selectively chosen to use the CFD-contract to analyse whether tax arbitrage is a possibility. In accordance with existing jurisprudence, the CFD is classified as a futures contract, thereby a derivative instrument. As a result of an investment in CFD, which has the same cash flow as a direct investment in the underlying asset, a tax arbitrage is possible. In this way an investor can choose to buy CFDs, for the benefit of directly investing in for example zero coupon bonds, achieve a difference in transaction tax and thus obtain a tax arbitrage.}},
  author       = {{Höjman, Niklas}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Hypotetisk FTT-lagstiftning - Diskrepans i definition kan resultera i skattearbitrage, särskilt med avseende på CFD-kontrakt}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}