This volume examines the possibilities and pitfalls for successful financial sector tax reform from theoretical, empirical and practical perspectives. It explores the possibilities and limitations of ""big ideas"" such as removal of all capital income taxation, the application of VAT to financial services, or heavy reliance on financial transactions taxes. The risks of attempting to use financial sector taxes as corrective instruments are stressed. Two defensive criteria are advanced as key: making the financial tax system as arbitrage- and inflation-proof as possible.