BofA, Goldman to pay $1 billion in UK bank bonus tax

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) - A British tax on bank executives' bonuses will cost two of the biggest U.S. banks a combined $1 billion.

Bank of America Corp , the largest American consumer bank, expects a $465 million compensation and benefits charge from the UK tax on its British bonus payments, the bank said in a first-quarter report filed with U.S. securities regulators.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc expects to pay more than $600 million for the UK tax, according to accounts filed last week by its London arm, Goldman Sachs International.

The so-called UK banker bonus tax, announced in December, assesses a 50 percent charge on bonuses above 25,000 pounds ($40,250) paid between Dec 9, 2009, and April 5, 2010.

Since the tax was announced, estimates indicate top global banks may pay more than 2 billion pounds ($2.9 billion) in total for bonus payments.

UK banks took charges for the tax in their 2009 accounts, but most European and U.S. banks will account for the tax in their 2010 accounts, as the tax was not fully enacted until this year.

Other major U.S. banks, like JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc , have yet to disclose specific figures.

($1=.6816 pound)

(Reporting by Joe Rauch; additional reporting by Steve Slater in London; editing by John Wallace.)

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