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Govt revenue from stocks marks a fall

Gazi Towhid Ahmed
A bearish trend in the capital market has pulled down the government's earnings from stocks, as the trading volume is on the decline.
The government earned tax worth Tk 17.73 crore in August, down fromTk 59.63 crore in July.
In the last fiscal year's budget, Finance Minister AMA Muhith doubled tax deductible at source for brokerage commission of the stockbrokers to 0.1 percent from Tk 0.05.
The government received Tk 326 crore as tax on brokerage commission last fiscal year, a 154 percent rise in tax collection over the previous year.
The government also bagged Tk 121 crore as tax from share sales by sponsor shareholders and placement holders in fiscal 2010-11.
The ratio of GDP (gross domestic product) to market capitalisation was 42.60 percent in August, down from 43.68 percent in July.
Former finance adviser to the caretaker government AB Mirza Azizul Islam said: “Tax is related to turnover; so
tax declined as the turnover marked a fall following a low participation by investors."
Islam, also a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said there is no logic behind such a fall as necessary steps were taken by the government, the SEC and the Bangladesh Bank to stabilise the market.
The regulator should investigate the issue of the declining turnover as early as possible to bring back normalcy into the market, he said.
He also stressed the need for bringing new scripts into the market through initial public offering which he said will help augment the index to some extent and boost investors' confidence.
“It's not true that an increase in the tax rate on brokerage commission will raise the government's revenue," said Ahasanul Islam, senior vice president of the Dhaka Stock Exchange.
Rather, increased tax will create an extra burden on the brokers as they lost profits and some brokers have already decided to shut down branches and started trimming down the number of employees, said Islam.
Meanwhile, Dhaka stocks yesterday passed a topsy*|turvy trading session and finally ended flat as the benchmark general index of the DSE closed at 5,652 points after declining by 2 points or 0.05 percent.
gazitowhid@thedailystar.net