- Goldman Sachs pays £2.29 billion in taxation to UK Treasury in 2010

City News Desk

London conservative MEP Syed Kamall has added his voice to the campaign to maintain the City's position as Europe's leading financial capital by warning against politicians "tinkering" with taxation in order to score political advantage.

"While it is tempting for politicians to ask banks to pay higher taxes after some were bailed out with taxpayers money, we need to think through the consequences of tinkering with taxation too much."

City AM the daily newspaper for the business community today in a report showed that Goldman Sachs the investment bank paid £2.29 billion in taxation last year to the UK Treasury, showing a 14.5 per cent increase in tax costs in 2010 compared to 2009.  The amount of tax paid by Goldman Sachs is equal to 4.3 per cent of total taxation paid in the UK by the financial services industry, which pays £53 billion a year.

Syed Kamall Conservative MEP for London said:
 
"It is important to ensure that banks based in London are subject to a tax regime which allows them to stay competitive with their counterparts in the Asia and the US."

photo credit: Pentayiotis