‘No long-term capital gains tax’

FM Arun Jaitley rubbished reports that the Centre may bring a longterm capital gains tax in the budget. He said the media had misrepresented Modi’s speech on Saturday.

NEW DELHI: To assuage market fears, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said 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.

“The speech (of the Prime Minister) has been misinterpreted (by a section of the media) that this is an indirect reference to the fact that there could be a long-term capital gains (tax) on security transactions. This interpretation is absolutely erroneous,” Jaitley said on the sidelines of Digi Dhan Mela here.

Currently, long-term capital gains on the sale of listed securities are exempt from taxes. These are profits on the sale of shares on a stock exchange platform after a holding period of one year or more.

He further said the Prime Minister has made no such statement directly or indirectly.

“Therefore, I wish to absolutely clarify that there is no occasion or opportunity for anybody to reach such a conclusion,” he said.