Finance minister AMA Muhith on Tuesday said the government would decide on June 26-27 whether the gain tax proposed by him in the budget for 2014-15 fiscal year would finally be passed or not in parliament. He said this while talking to reporters after a meeting with the officials of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission at the secretariat.SEC officials led by its chairman Khairul Hossain handed over dividend worth Tk 66.83 crore for the outgoing fiscal. They earned the money from the annual fees given by the beneficiary account holders for operating in the share market.
The SEC officials also discussed proposals made by Muhith in the new budget on last Thursday.
Muhith proposed three to five per cent tax on gains realised by any individual investors. He proposed that corporate tax would be reduced to 35 per cent from existing 37.50 per cent for non-listed companies, while corporate tax for the listed companies remained unchanged at 27.50 per cent.
Three per cent tax will be slapped on the individuals with more than Tk 10 lakh capital gain in a year, while the gain tax will be 5 per cent if an individual earns more than Tk 20 lakh a year.
Former SEC chairman Faruq Ahmed Siddique a couple of days ago said the proposal on gain tax was not a bad idea, but the time was not appropriate.
SEC member Arif Khan told reporters after the meeting that they were likely to recommend for withdrawal of the proposal on gain tax.
Operators of the share market said the government should have reduced tax burden from the capital market as the market is suffering since the crash in 2010-2011 to revive the market and to stimulate investors.
The key index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, on Sunday, the first trading session after the budget proposal was placed before the parliament on Thursday, declined by 1.14 per cent or 50 points.
Muhith said the share market is behaving well now. He noted that decrease of 100 points from 4500 points was not a big worry. He hoped that newspaper and electronic media would play a constructive role in this regard.
-With New Age input
