Budget 2027 is taking shape with a further increase in the Tobin Tax on share purchases ahead of the budget bill's presentation to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday. The package would also freeze DTAs for 2027, with the financial and insurance sectors the main targets for the new measures.
The levy on purchases of shares, equity-linked financial instruments and securities traded on regulated markets or multilateral trading facilities with a market capitalisation of 500 million euros or more could rise from 0.20 per cent to 0.40 per cent. For purchases outside regulated markets or multilateral trading facilities, the rate would rise from 0.40 per cent to 0.60 per cent, while the Tobi Tax on high-frequency transactions would move from 0.04 per cent to 0.06 per cent.
Department of Finance estimates
The Draft Budgetary Plan expects the package of measures to generate 5 billion in additional revenue from the financial sector. The proposal under consideration also aims to raise the tax threshold for the banking sector very close to 30 per cent by restructuring the IRES surcharge, adding another layer to the package now being prepared.
That approach follows the government view that all sectors able to contribute should be called on to do so. The latest figures also sit alongside an earlier forecast from last year that doubling the financial transaction tax would bring in an additional 337.3 million euros.
Chamber of Deputies and Senate
Experts in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate had warned that higher rates might discourage trading and erode the tax base, but the latest revenue figures cut against that concern. By 31 August, the State had already collected 917 million from the Tobin Tax in the first eight months of 2026, a 94.3 per cent increase from the same period in 2025.
That makes Wednesday's presentation the first point at which the proposed rate changes and the DTAs freeze can move from drafting to the Council of Ministers' review. For firms in the affected sectors, the immediate issue is not the headline rate alone but whether the package keeps its current shape when the bill reaches that table.
