World News @lemmy.ml NightOwl @lemm.ee 1y ago

Italy shocks banks with 40 percent windfall tax for 2023

www.aljazeera.com Italy shocks banks with 40 percent windfall tax for 2023

The move comes after higher interest rates have yielded record profits for banks as the cost of loans has soared.

You're viewing a single thread.

38 comments

after reprimanding lenders for failing to reward deposits

This really is key. Think bank for a second. They make oodles off cash of nothing. Nothing. Just other people’s money. Think what you could do in 30 days with $6b. And what do the millions of people who pooled that $6h get? Fees. Nothing. There’s no interest for chequing, which the banks have set up to be the only way really to bank with. Savings net you next to nothing (do banks really think .5% is enough when they likely double your money day to day).

And incentivizes to deposit? Yeah, zero.

So they take all your money, charge you for it, make a killing, pay next to no taxes and call it a day.

And here I am slaving away making nothing, paying 45% in taxes, all the while making them rich. I’m so done with capitalism which has turned out to be every bit as bad as every other kind of government that came before it.
- Okay and I agree but how is capitalism a government?
  
  Capitalism eats everything if you let it, including governments.
  
  They purchase governments
  
  It can't exist without the government keeping the angry mob from chopping off the Capitalists' heads off.
  
  Governments set economic policy that directly supports and props up capitalism.
- To be fair, we don't want them doing too much stuff with our deposits, since they have to be able to give it back at any point. IIRC they earn most of their money off of lending as a result.
  
  And here I am slaving away making nothing, paying 45% in taxes,
  
  Where the fuck is that one of the lower tax brackets? Where I live 48% is the highest possible rate, including taxes from all levels of government. I hope your government services are pretty dope with that much funding.
- Just for what facts are worth, interest rates on savings account are a good 8x higher than 0.5%, at least in a lot of American banks right now. I'm not sure where you are exactly, but central bank rates have risen essentially everywhere, so you should absolutely be able to find better rates than that.
  
  For $10,000 left sitting for 5 years, at 4% that becomes $12,100. At 0.5%, it's $10,250.

38 comments