Individual investors’ five proposals to the finance minister
Bangladesh Pujibazar Biniogkari Oikya Parishad – a forum of the country's individual stock investors – on Wednesday submitted its five proposals to the finance minister's office for the upcoming national budget.
In a letter signed by its Secretary General Kazi Abdur Razzak, the forum requested the minister to focus on the development and vibrancy of the capital market in the national budget for the fiscal 2022-23.
They sought a 750 basis points corporate tax cut to 15% for publicly traded companies as, they said, it would attract well-performing firms to go public and help the market development and increase the tax revenue of the government.
Undisclosed money should be channelised only through the capital market on the condition of a 10% tax payment, the forum said, adding that the move would help increase the fund flow to the capital market, contribute to industrialisation, and discourage syphoning off money abroad.
The Bangladesh Pujibazar Biniogkari Oikya Parishad also demanded the tax on dividend income to be completely waived at the investor level as the government collects tax at source from companies before they discourse dividends.
The source tax should be the ultimate tax liability of dividend earning investors, they opined, adding that the move would inspire long-term investments in the stock market and help the market stabilisation.
The forum also requested Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal to force listed firms to payout at least half of their annual profits as cash dividends.
Strengthening local capital market institutions was the fifth recommendation the investors made.
They requested the minister to financially strengthen market intermediaries so that they can support the market during volatility.