BSEC seeks corporate tax reduction

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has requested the government to reduce corporate tax rate by 5 percentage points for non-financial companies which will collect at least half of their long-term capital through issuing corporate bonds. If the tax is reduced, it will attract more investment in bond market and long-term financing dependency on banking sector will decrease. Recently, BSEC chairman Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam made the request in a letter to finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal. The BSEC chairman also requested the government to reduce tax at source on cash dividends from listed securities. The commission requested the government to reduce capital gain tax to 10% from existing 15% for the foreign portfolio investors. To attract more investment in bonds, the capital market regulator recommended a declaration of no-tax on income from any bond for all investors.