Level the playing field

Long-term capital gains tax benefits for equities should go

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s (BSE) suggestion that benefits related to the long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax on equity investments should be removed to curb market manipulation via the exchange platform deserves serious thought. Though this demand has emerged from several quarters in the run-up to some earlier Budgets as well, the government has been ignoring it on the grounds that a differential tax treatment is required in order to encourage long-term investments instead of short-term trading in the capital market. India used to tax capital gains on equity till 2003-04, when the then finance minister, Jaswant Singh, proposed to abolish