The National Board of Revenue on Monday halved the tax rate to 15 per cent on capital gains above Tk 50 lakh from selling shares of listed companies on the capital market, regardless of the transaction timing.
The revenue board issued a circular in this regard with retrospective effect of July 1.
The previous tax rate on capital gains above Tk 50 lakh was up to 30 per cent if investors sold their shares within five years, according to the circular.
The 15 per cent tax rate has been imposed on capital gains from sales of shares in all cases irrespective of the time of transaction, it said.
As a result, from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025, capital gains of more than Tk 50 lakh from share transactions of the listed companies on the stock exchanges will have to pay 15 per cent tax.
If the amount of net assets of the taxpayer is more than Tk 4 crore, Tk 10 crore, Tk 20 crore and Tk 50 crore, investors will have to pay a surcharge of 10 per cent, 20 per cent, 30 per cent and 35 per cent on the tax payable respectively.
The circular said that if the net assets of the taxpayer are less than Tk 50 crore, the surcharge may be less than 35 per cent.
The now deposed Awami League government imposed the capital gains tax for the 2024-25 financial year.
After the tax was imposed, capital market-related organisations kept demanding withdrawal of the capital gains tax saying that it would create negative impact on the market.
The Dhaka Stock Exchange at a meeting with the NBR chairman Abdur Rahman Khan recently demanded that the interim government withdraw the capital gains tax. DSEX, the key index of the DSE, on Monday gained 61.63 points to end at 5,252.49 points.
