Bonus tax costs Goldman Sachs $600m
Second quarter results show one-off UK tax on bonuses cost the bank $600m
The UK’s one-off bank bonus tax cost Goldman Sachs $600m (£395m), the Wall
Street bank said today as it revealed its second quarter results.
Excluding the impact of the $600m related to the UK bank payroll tax and the
$550m related to the SEC settlement, diluted earnings per common share were
$2.75 for the second quarter of 2010, the bank said.
The British government enacted legislation that imposed a non-deductible 50%
tax on certain financial institutions for discretionary bonuses in excess of
£25,000, awarded under arrangements made between 9 December 2009 and 5 April
2010 to ‘relevant banking employees’.
‘The market environment became more difficult during the second quarter and,
as a result, client activity across our businesses declined,’ said Lloyd C.
Blankfein, chairman and chief executive officer.