ISLAMABAD, June 7: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) said on Saturday that exemption of capital gains tax (CGT) will continue till June 30, 2010.

FBR Information Secretary Hafeez Mughal said, in a statement, that a final decision had been taken at a high-level meeting that exemption would continue for next two years and the budget-makers were no more considering the proposal.

He said in accordance with the finance minister’s direction the CGT would continue to be exempted on stock market.

The government, however, would continue to collect Capital Value Tax (CVT) and Withholding Tax (WHT) at the existing rates. So, basically there would be no change in the taxation policy towards stock exchange market in the forthcoming budget, he added.This means that the rates of CVT and WHT would also remain unchanged for the next two years.

The finance ministry in consultation with the FBR had earlier taken a decision to tax the stockbrokers, who were making huge profits and paying no income tax on it.

The decision was withdrawn on the direction of PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari after his meeting with the representatives of stockbrokers.