Mohammad Mufazzal
The government is set to impose five per cent tax on investors whose profit from the country's capital market would cross half a million Taka in the coming fiscal year.
Officials said the Finance Minister would announce the capital gains tax in his budget speech later this week in an effort to shore up the country's failing revenue income.
"There will be no tax on investors whose profit from stock trading doesn't go beyond half a million Taka," a senior government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"But the traders whose profit from bourses crosses half a million Taka will be made to pay taxes. They will pay five per cent tax on the amount excess to Tk500,000," he said.
Officials said the finance ministry last month discussed the taxation move with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the central bank.
They said the new taxation would generate "substantial amount of revenue" for the government, which faces a big spending bill next year due to massive power subsidies and record development budget.
The move comes as the number of share investors have doubled to 2.6 million in the last 16 months and the market capitalisation of Dhaka Stock Exchange grew more than 100 per cent to US$37 billion in little over a year's time.
The benchmark index at the DSE has expanded by 82 per cent last year and over 30 per cent in the first five months this year, as millions pumped fresh fund in the country's premier bourse.
"Thousands of investors are pocketing millions of Taka in profits from the share market every year as the stocks boomed. They should share some profit with the government," the official said.
Officials said the investors' income from company dividends won't be included in the capital gains tax.
Investors who keep stocks at least for a year won't be taxed as the government seeks to encourage long term investment in the capital market, said another official.
"The government wants to make sure that capital gains tax does not affect small investors whose bread and butter come from stock trading," he said.
He said the securities regulator would make use of common back-office trading software mandatory for all brokerage houses so that the National Board of Revenue could identify the big traders and calculate their annual income within minutes.
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