NEW DELHI: In a bid to calm the jangled nerves of stock market players, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday clarified that there is no move to impose long-term capital gains tax on share transactions, an issue investors are hugely touchy about.
The statement came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly dropped a hint on increasing taxes on capital markets and the need for all sections, including market players, to contribute to the national exchequer.
On Saturday, the prime minister had said “those who profit from financial markets must make a fair contribution to nation-building through taxes... We should consider methods for increasing it in a fair, and transparent way.”
Jaitley went on to blame “some sections” of the media for “misinterpreting” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech.
He said such an interpretation was “absolutely erroneous,”, adding that the “Prime Minister had made no such statement directly or indirectly... and therefore I wish to absolutely clarify that there is no occasion or opportunity for anybody to reach such a conclusion because this is not what the Prime Minister said, nor is the intention of the government as has been reported.”
Currently, long-term capital gains on the sale of listed securities are exempt from taxes. These are profits on sale of shares on a stock exchange platform after a holding period of one year or more.
“...Now it is time to re-think and come up with a good design which is simple and transparent, but also fair and progressive,” Modi had said, adding that for various reasons, contribution of tax from those who make money on the markets has been low due to illegal activities and frauds or due to the structure of our tax laws that offer low or zero tax rate on certain types of financial income.
Profit gained from share transaction in less than one year is called short-term capital gains, which are taxed at a flat rate of 15 per cent at present.
At the same time, all stock market transactions attract securities transaction tax (STT) in a range between 0.017 per cent and 0.125 per cent.