Staff Reporter :
The Bangladesh National Lawyers Association (BNLA) has proposed a tax break for new investors to bolster the country’s fragile capital market.
In a press statement on Saturday, BNLA President Advocate Shah Md. Khasruzzaman, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, made the demand.
Khasruzzaman also called for the withdrawal of a relevant National Board of Revenue (NBR) provision to prevent recurrent stock market crashes.
He argued that to address the market’s long-term issues, the government should focus on increasing the number of buyers rather than sellers.
If investors inject more capital into the market and declare it in their tax returns, the NBR’s taxation of this capital for the current financial year should be waived.
This new incentive, Khasruzzaman believes, would encourage businesses to invest more in the stock market.
It could potentially reverse market declines by attracting untaxed funds laundered abroad and idle domestic money.
Increased capital flow into the market, he added, would strengthen the country’s economy.