“Eleven European Union (EU) Member States have already addressed the European Commission and approved it [the tax], our incumbent government did not exactly approve of this measure. Now we should hold discussions in the coalition, but personally I would be in favor of drafting such a bill,” Butkevičius told the Verslo Žinios business daily.
The authorities should take the concentration of capital into consideration, he said.
“Obviously, the capital is mainly concentrated in the region of Vilnius and certain growth could also be seen in the city of Klaipeda. And the trends in the regions are poor,” Butkevicius said.
In his opinion, the authorities might probably need to apply a zero profit tax on investments in regions.
“We should discuss possible ways to do that with the lawyers. ... an expert group will be set up, it will have to work for several months and to present its vision and sight by around 1 July,” he said.
Finance Minister Ingrida Šimonytė told BNS early in October that Lithuania did not object to the introduction of the financial transaction tax as such, but did not intend to join the countries that back the new levy and seek an enhanced cooperation accord to push the tax forward.
