Yana BermanMagdalena Andersson, Minister for Finance of Sweden, has revealed that the Swedish government is seeking to introduce a bank tax in 2022 in order to help fund defence spending, Reuters reported on Saturday, Aug. 31.
“The banks make big profits each year and have been big winners from corporate tax cuts in recent years,” Andersson said. She said that the new rule would apply to all banks operating in the country regardless of their country of origin.
Per Reuters, Swedish Social Democrats and Greens have reached the agreement with the Center and Liberal parties to significantly increase defence spending from 2022 to 2025, by adding 5 billion Swedish crowns ($520 million) to the budget.
In 2018, Sweden revealed its plans to procure the Patriot air defence missile system, developed by the U.S. manufacturer Raytheon Co. The total value of the deal was around $3.2 billion.
Swedish Social Democrats have been promoting the idea of a bank tax since 2015. In 2017, the plans were postponed due to widespread criticism.
