PM Modi may impose higher taxes on income earned from stock market in Budget 2017

Emboldening his efforts towards nation building through taxes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may impose higher taxes on income earned from the stock market.

PM Modi said people earning from the stock market will have to contribute to nation building through taxes. So, you can expect Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to announce higher taxes on stock market income during Budget 2017.

"Those who profit from financial markets must make a fair contribution to nation-building through taxes. For various reasons, the contribution of tax from those who make money on the markets has been low. To some extent, it may be due to illegal activities and fraud. To stop this, Sebi has to be extremely vigilant,” said Modi.

Modi said the low contribution may also be due to the structure of our tax laws.

“Low or zero tax rate is given to certain types of financial income. I call upon you to think about the contribution of market participants to the exchequer. We should consider methods for increasing it in a fair, efficient and transparent way," he said.

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Presently, people earning money from the stock market enjoy easier taxes compared to incomes from bonds and fixed deposits.

"Our commodity markets must become useful to our farmers, not just be avenues for speculation. People say that derivatives can be used by farmers for reducing their risks. But in practice, hardly any farmer in India uses derivatives. Until and unless we make the commodity markets directly useful to farmers, they are just a costly ornament in our economy, not a useful tool,” said Modi.