Lib Dems to open conference with call to copy Biden’s tax on share buybacks

Exclusive: Money raised from a tax on companies buying their own shares could be used for green investment, party says

The Liberal Democrats are to kick off their spring conference with a call for the UK to mimic Joe Biden’s tax on share buybacks by big corporations, as the party prepares for a further push into Conservative-held “blue wall” seats before the election.

The plan, the set-piece announcement of Saturday’s first full day of the gathering in York, would impose a 4% tax on any share buybacks by FTSE-100 companies, which on the basis of the past two years of such activities would raise about £2bn annually.