Tuesday, May 25, 2021 | 2 a.m.
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I must disagree with the opinions expressed in the May 14 letter “ ‘Wall Street tax’ would hurt us” and the May 20 letter “Wall Street tax would backfire,” about a financial transaction tax.
Adding a one-cent-per-transaction tax (not per share or contract) assessed on the purchaser would not affect any financial institution in the way that both letters writers indicated.
There are 30 million transactions per day on the New York Stock Exchange. That’s 15 million buy orders. Large traders who place, say, 20,000 buy orders per day will not change their habits by paying an extra $200 per day in transaction fees. The “at home” investor, likewise, will not care about the extra penny for their trade. Seems like a relatively painless way to raise tax revenue.
