No tax on capital gains, no TIN:Tax on brokerage commission to doubl

The government neither imposed any capital gains tax on individual investors, nor made tax identification number (TIN) compulsory for retail investors for the next fiscal year.
However, such a positive speculation has been rife in the market for the last few days, keeping the stocks in a gaining streak for four consecutive sessions.
The government took the decision to ensure growth and stability of the capital market that went through massive jitters early this year.
Key indices on the twin bourses rose yesterday, buoyed by the investors' expectation that the government would not do anything investment unfriendly.
The benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange gained 52.77 points, or 0.88 percent, to 6,001, while the Selective Categories Index of Chittagong Stock Exchange advanced 45 points, or 0.42 percent, to 10,679.
However, the government in the proposed budget has doubled tax on brokerage commission that may hurt the stockbrokers.
Presently, the tax deductible at source for brokerage commission of the stockbrokers is 0.05 percent, which has been proposed to 0.10 percent.
Mahmud Osman Imam, a professor of finance at Dhaka University, said: “The government could have increased the tax to 0.06-0.07 percent.”
With the trading volume on a continuous downslide following the recent market debacle, it is not the right time to double tax on brokerage commission, he said.
The professor also said the issue of tax on capital gains and TIN for beneficiary accounts had sensitised the market, and now it ended.
On the recent stock debacle, Finance Minister AMA Muhith in his budget speech said the rise of stockmarket within just two years was not desirable, while there had been failures on the part of relevant quarters and also interference from outside.
He also said steps have been taken to contain irregularities in the capital market.
The measures include amendment of different securities rules, companies act, formation of financial reporting act to maintain stability, setting up of a financial reporting council to oversee the audit and accounting standards and their transparency, and establishing a separate clearing and settlement company to settle stock transactions.