(MENAFN) A number of Eurozone countries disagreed broad outlines for a tax on financial transactions by a self-imposed deadline, casting doubt on whether the disputed levy can be implemented in early 2016, diplomats showed, Gulf News reported.

The concept, which was led by Germany and France but rejected by Britain, aims to make banks share the cost of cleaning up Europe's debt and banking crisis. It is inspired by the "Tobin tax", a scheme to penalize short-term currency speculators proposed by Nobel prize-winning economist James Tobin in 1972.

Regardless of the critical mass the initiative gained in Europe in October 2012 to be able to go ahead, disputes over how to levy the tax and whether to include derivatives have meant continued delays, with and initial 2014 start date slipping to 2016.