Blind eye turned to black money
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday asked people to invest black money in stocks without fear, in an effort to boost the crisis-ridden capital market.
If anybody invests undisclosed money in stocks, the NBR will not raise any question about the source of the funds, an NBR official said, referring to a circular.
The NBR issued the circular after discussions between government high-ups and stakeholders in the last few days.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith, meanwhile, held a meeting with policymakers on a stockmarket bailout package at his secretariat office yesterday.
Muhith told reporters that the bailout package was finalised and the Securities and Exchange Commission would announce it in a day or two.
In Bangladesh, many businessmen, doctors, engineers, teachers and lawyers have high income and have been possessing huge undisclosed money against which they did not pay tax, an NBR high official told The Daily Star.
They will not face any problem in investing in the stockmarket, he said.
The government created scope for whitening money in fiscal 2009-10, aiming to increase investment in the stockmarket.
The NBR official said opportunity for money whitening was given this fiscal year too.
In the current fiscal year's budget, 10 percent tax was imposed on profit in the secondary market for institutional investors. Besides, 10 percent tax was levied on profit for foreign investors including Bangladeshi expatriates.
NBR in next one or two days will issue two more circulars withdrawing the taxes, said officials of the finance ministry.
In another move, Bangladesh Bank may take three major steps to stabilise the troubled market.
The steps are: if the banks make long-term investment in their subsidiary that will not be included in the exposure limit; the equity of the subsidiary companies will not be counted within the exposure limit; and the deadline for lowering the exposure of the banks that have exposure beyond the limit will be extended by two years.
Comments