Merchant bankers against slapping capital gain tax on share trading profit

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FE Report
Merchant bankers urged the government to withdraw its proposal on slapping capital gain tax on profit of share trading and tax at source on brokerage commissions to retain the present growth of the market.
They, however, said the proposed budget is capital market friendly excepting a few issues. They demanded to keep the tax rate, proposed at ten percent, on the income of the institutional investors within the range of five to three percent.
"The proposed-budget is market-friendly if we take into account the overall budgetary measures. But the government should re-think about some taxes to maintain the present growth," said Arif Khan, president of Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association (BMBA) at a post-budget briefing Monday.
"The proposed ten per cent tax on the income of the institutional investors might have a negative impact on he market," he said.
He said the government might impose three per cent tax on capital gains of the institutional investors if they do not sell their shares within one year to encourage long-term investment and five per cent might be imposed on their income if they make profit by selling their shares before the one-year period.
Khan also said the government proposal to impose 0.1 percent tax at source on commissions collected by the stockbrokers from existing 0.025 per cent will also affect trading.
"The proposed tax on premium value of shares is inconsistent with the country's income tax laws, as "the premium value is a part of capital of a company not revenue"," he said.
He said: "Moreover, such tax imposition might discourage the companies with strong fundamentals to float shares in the market."
BMBA leaders, however, appreciated for not making mentioning TIN mandatory while opening BO accounts and for not imposing tax on individuals' capitals gain.
BMBA secretary general Abdur Rouf and member Ahsan Ullah were present at the press briefing.