The government's revenue earnings from the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) fell further by 8.0 per cent in February compared to January, 2015 as trading volume was on the decline amid prolonged political unrest.
The government bagged tax worth Tk 86.97 million in February against Tk 94.52 million in January, 2015, registering a decline of 8.0 per cent over the month, according to statistics from the DSE.
Of the total revenue in February, Tk 53.60 million came from the brokerage commission and Tk 33.36 million came from the share sales by sponsor-directors and placement holders, the DSE data showed.
The government's earnings from DSE declined in the last five consecutive months in a row as trading volume was on the decline at a stress amid bearish trend in the stock prices.
The DSE, on behalf of the government, collects tax as brokerage commission and sponsor and placement shares sales at the rate of 0.05 per cent and 5.0 per cent respectively and deposits the amount to the government exchequer.
"Tax collection is related to trading volume and investors were cautious about taking fresh position amid prolonged political unrest in the country since early January," said a DSE official.
The daily average turnover on the DSE came down to Tk 2.67 billion in February against Tk 2.78 billion in January, that contributed to lower tax collection as tax is calculated on turnover value, he said.
The revenue earnings are related to turnover. It's usual that tax will fell if turnover declines," said Akter H Sannamat, managing director of Union Capital adding that the tax flow will rise when the market will be back on track.
However, in the first eight months of the current fiscal year (FY), the government's revenue earnings from DSE increased 14.54 per cent compared to same period last fiscal.
In the first eight months (July'14 to February'15) of the current fiscal year, DSE paid tax worth Tk 1,222.16 million against Tk 1,067.05 million in the same period last fiscal year, the DSE data showed.
The government bagged tax worth around Tk 1.54 billion from DSE in the FY 2013-2014 against Tk 1.27 billion in the FY 2012-2013.
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