Italy's economy minister rules out additional bank taxes
Adds details on previous one-off bank tax move from paragraph 4
ROME, Aug 7 (Reuters) -The Italian government has no plans to impose additional taxes on bank profits, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Wednesday, in an effort to quash press speculation about new levies on banks and other companies.
Answering a question at a press conference after a cabinet meeting, Giorgetti said he had been wondering what the source of such speculation was.
"Banks, like other profitable entities, will be called upon to contribute to public finances just like all residents," he said.
"There won't be any tax on 'extra' bank profits. But [ordinary] taxes on bank profits? Yes," he added.
Italy's government sparked a sell-off in domestic banking shares last August by unveiling a surprise 40% tax on profits that banks had reaped thanks to the spike in interest rates.
Italy hastily backtracked and eventually gave lenders the option to boost capital reserves instead of paying the levy, leaving distribution plans to shareholders intact.
However, press speculation last week sowed renewed uncertainty among investors, pressuring banks' shares and prompting top bank executives to say the sector paid enough taxes under the current regime.
Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo ISP.MI said when it released first-half earnings this month its tax payments for the period would amount to 3.1 billion euros, 500 million euros higher than a year earlier thanks to the benefits of higher rates.
With euro zone rates at a peak of 4% last year, Italian banks have been able to pocket record profits from the gap in lending and deposit rates by charging more for credit while keeping deposit rates at around 1% on average.
Reporting by Angelo Amante; Writing by Valentina Za
Editing by Keith Weir
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