Capital Gains Tax Calculator
IndiaSee your STCG/LTCG tax, cess, the holding period that flips the rate and exactly what lands in hand.
Your sale
Asset type
12+ months = long-term for listed equity.
Brokerage, stamp duty, legal — reduces the gain.
Capital additions (e.g. construction) — added to cost base.
Results update live — calculations run in your browser, no signup.
₹22,750
Effective 7.3% of the gain — you keep 97% of the ₹8.00 L sale
Illustrative FY 2025-26 rules; 4% cess included, surcharge not modelled. Planning estimate, not tax advice.
Capital gains breakup
How the gain is built from your sale.
- Sale price
- ₹8,00,000
- − Selling expenses
- —
- − Purchase price
- −₹5,00,000
- − Cost of improvement
- —
- = Capital gain
- ₹3,00,000
Past the long-term mark — taxed at 12.5% with a ₹1.25 L exemption.
Tax calculation
LTCG on your taxable gain, plus cess.
- Taxable gain
- ₹1,75,000
- LTCG exemption applied
- −₹1,25,000
- LTCG rate
- 12.5%
- Tax payable
- ₹21,875
- + Health & education cess (4%)
- ₹875
- = Total tax
- ₹22,750
Effective 7.3% of the gain, or 7.6% with cess.
STCG vs LTCG on this sale
For listed equity, 12 months splits short-term from long-term. You held 18 mo — this is long-term.
Short-term (under 12 mo)
₹62.4K
tax + cess at 20.0% · net ₹7.38L
Long-term (12+ mo)
Your sale₹22.8K
tax + cess at 12.5% after exemption · net ₹7.77L
₹39,650
saved by being long-term
20.0%→12.5%
short-term vs long-term rate
Long-term gains on listed equity are exempt up to ₹1.25 L per financial year; only the gain above that is taxed at 12.5%.
Holding period & classification
Your 18-month hold against the 12-month line.
Held
18 mo
1.5 yr
Threshold
12 mo
to long-term
Classed as
Long
term
The holding period runs from purchase to sale. For listed equity, reaching 12 months moves the gain from 20.0% short-term to 12.5% long-term.
Capital gains overview
Your ₹8.00 L sale split into cost base and gain.
Capital gain
₹3.00 L
- Cost base (purchase + costs)63%
- Capital gain38%
What if you held longer?
Sell now (long-term)
₹22.8K
total tax · net ₹7.77 L
If long-term (12+ mo)
₹22.8K
total tax at 12.5% + cess
Potential saving
₹0
already long-term
You've already crossed the long-term line. Selling while still short-term would have cost ₹62,400 instead of ₹22,750 — long-term holding is worth ₹39,650.
Capital gains tax rates by asset
The holding-period threshold and STCG/LTCG rates that flip by asset type (FY 2025-26, illustrative).
| Asset | Long-term after | STCG | LTCG | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listed equity / equity MF | 12 months | 20% | 12.5% | ₹1.25L LTCG exemption/yr; no indexation |
| Listed bonds / debentures | 12 months | slab | 12.5% | No indexation on listed securities |
| Unlisted shares | 24 months | slab | 12.5% | Indexation option for pre-23 Jul 2024 buys |
| Property / land | 24 months | slab | 12.5% | Or 20% with indexation (older purchases) |
| Gold / jewellery | 24 months | slab | 12.5% | Or 20% with indexation (older purchases) |
STCG taxed “at slab” means it is added to your income and taxed at your normal income-tax rate. Debt mutual funds bought on/after 1 Apr 2023 are taxed wholly at slab regardless of holding period.
Tax impact on higher gains
Same long-term listed equity treatment, scaled to bigger gains.
| Capital gain | Taxable | Tax | Tax + cess | Net in hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹3.00 L (yours) | ₹1.75 L | ₹21,875 | ₹22,750 | ₹7.77 L |
| ₹4.50 L | ₹3.25 L | ₹40,625 | ₹42,250 | ₹9.08 L |
| ₹6.00 L | ₹4.75 L | ₹59,375 | ₹61,750 | ₹10.38 L |
| ₹9.00 L | ₹7.75 L | ₹96,875 | ₹1.01 L | ₹12.99 L |
The ₹1.25 L exemption is a fixed slice, so the effective rate creeps up toward 12.5% as the gain grows.
Tax by holding period
The same ₹3.00 L gain, taxed at different holding periods around the 12-month long-term threshold for listed equity.
| Held | Term | Rate | Taxable | Tax + cess | Net in hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 mo | Short | 20.0% | ₹3.00 L | ₹62,400 | ₹7.38 L |
| 11 mo | Short | 20.0% | ₹3.00 L | ₹62,400 | ₹7.38 L |
| 12 mo | Long | 12.5% | ₹1.75 L | ₹22,750 | ₹7.77 L |
| 18 mo | Long | 12.5% | ₹1.75 L | ₹22,750 | ₹7.77 L |
Ways to reduce capital gains tax
- Hold past the long-term line. Reaching 12 months moves you to the lower 12.5% rate.
- Use the ₹1.25L equity exemption. Book up to ₹1.25L of long-term equity gains tax-free each year — split sales across financial years.
- Harvest losses to set off. Realise losing positions to offset gains in the same year before they expire.
- Reinvest under 54/54F/54EC. Property/long-term gains reinvested in a house or specified bonds can be exempt, within limits.
- Add improvement & expense costs. Brokerage, stamp duty and capital improvements raise your cost base and shrink the gain.
Set-off & carry-forward of losses
- Short-term loss (STCL). Can be set off against both short-term and long-term capital gains in the same year.
- Long-term loss (LTCL). Can be set off only against long-term capital gains — not against short-term gains.
- Carry forward 8 years. Unabsorbed capital losses carry forward for up to 8 assessment years, but only against capital gains.
- File on time. Losses can be carried forward only if you file your return by the due date.
Why the holding period matters so much
The clock starts at purchase
Held from buy date to sale date. 12 months is the cut-off for listed equity — even a day short keeps you short-term.
Long-term is the lower rate
Crossing the line drops the rate to 12.5% and frees a ₹1.25 L yearly exemption.
Crossing saves ₹39,650
On this exact sale, long-term holding cuts the total tax from ₹62.4K to ₹22.8K.
What this means
On a ₹3.00 L gain from listed equity, this long-term sale owes ₹22,750 in total (incl. 4% cess) at an effective 7.3%, leaving ₹7.77 L in hand. Selling early would have cost ₹39,650 more.
Key takeaways
- Asset: Listed equity / equity MF
- Gain: ₹3.00 L (held 18 mo)
- Term: long-term — rate 12.5%
- Tax + cess: ₹22,750 (7.3% effective)
- Net in hand: ₹7.77 L
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Your sale: ₹8.00 L → ₹22.8K tax, ₹7.77L in hand.
Plan the rest of your money life
Put this sale in context — income tax, take-home pay, or where to reinvest the proceeds.
These figures are planning estimates, not tax advice — capital gains rules and rates change between budgets. Listed equity (FY 2025-26) flips to long-term at 12 months: short-term is taxed at 20% and long-term at 12.5% on gains above a ₹1.25 Lyearly exemption. Unlisted shares, property and gold flip to long-term at 24 months, with short-term gains taxed at your income-tax slab — the slab figures shown are illustrative top-slab numbers. The 4% health & education cess is added on top of the tax; the indexation panel is a manual illustration using a proxy inflation factor, not the official cost-inflation index, and the headline number always uses the 12.5% no-indexation route. Debt mutual funds bought on or after 1 April 2023 are taxed at your slab on the whole gain regardless of holding period — so the 24-month / 12.5%long-term line in the debt option applies to unlisted shares and pre-April-2023 holdings, not current debt funds. Surcharge isn't modelled. Confirm the exact rules for your situation before filing.
How capital gains tax is calculated
Tax = (Gain − Exemption) × Rate; Gain = Sale − (Purchase + Improvement + Expenses)
- Gain
- sale price minus the cost base
- Cost base
- purchase + capital improvement + selling expenses
- Rate
- STCG or LTCG rate, set by the holding period
- Exemption
- ₹1.25L/yr on listed-equity LTCG only
Worked example
With your inputs — a ₹8,00,000 sale of listed equity against a ₹5,00,000 cost base, held 18 months: the gain is ₹3.00L, which is long-term (past the 12-month mark). Taxing ₹1.75L at 12.5% gives ₹21.9K, plus 4% cess of ₹875 — a total of ₹22.8K, leaving ₹7.77L in hand.
Capital gains tax questions
For listed shares and equity mutual funds, gains on holdings under 12 months are short-term (STCG) and taxed at 20%. Holdings of 12 months or more are long-term (LTCG), taxed at the lower 12.5% rate. The holding period is what decides which applies.
Long-term gains on listed equity are exempt up to ₹1.25 lakh per financial year. Only the gain above that threshold is taxed, at 12.5%. The exemption is per year and combined across all your listed-equity LTCG, not per transaction.
It runs from the purchase date to the sale date. At exactly 12 months the holding qualifies as long-term for listed equity. A sale even a day before completing 12 months is treated as short-term and taxed at the higher 20% rate.
Use the asset-type selector. Listed equity flips to long-term at 12 months; unlisted shares, property and gold flip at 24 months and short-term gains are taxed at your income-tax slab. Note that debt mutual funds bought on or after 1 April 2023 are taxed at your slab on the entire gain regardless of holding period — there's no long-term concession for them — so the 24-month / 12.5% line shown applies to unlisted shares and pre-April-2023 debt holdings, not current debt funds. The rates shown are illustrative top-slab figures — confirm your own slab and any indexation rules.
The complete guide to capital gains tax
What capital gains tax is
Capital gains tax applies when you sell a capital asset for more than you paid. The profit — the sale value minus the cost base (purchase price, capital improvements and selling expenses) — is the capital gain, and tax is charged on that gain rather than on the whole sale amount. How much you pay turns almost entirely on one thing: how long you held the asset before selling.
Short-term vs long-term
Every asset has a holding-period threshold that splits gains into short-term (STCG) and long-term (LTCG). For listed equity and equity mutual funds the line is 12 months: sell before it and the gain is short-term, taxed at 20%; sell at or after it and it's long-term, taxed at the lower 12.5%. Debt funds, unlisted shares, property and gold use a 24-month line, with short-term gains taxed at your income-tax slab. Here a ₹3.00 L gain held 18 months is long-term.
The ₹1.25 lakh LTCG exemption
Long-term gains on listed equity are exempt up to ₹1.25 Lper financial year — only the gain above that is taxed at 12.5%. The exemption is combined across all your listed-equity long-term gains for the year, not granted per transaction, and it doesn't apply to debt funds, property or gold. It's why splitting equity sales across financial years can quietly lower the tax.
Cess, indexation and what crossing saves
A 4% health & education cess is added on top of the computed tax — on this sale that's ₹875 over the ₹21,875 base. For older property, gold and unlisted holdings you may compare the 20%-with-indexation route against the flat 12.5%. And because the long-term rate is lower, nudging a sale past the holding-period line can cut the bill sharply — here the short-term total would be ₹62,400 against ₹22,750 long-term, a ₹39,650 difference.
How to use this calculator
Pick the asset type, enter your purchase and sale prices, any selling expenses and capital improvements, and the months held. Read off the gain, the STCG/LTCG tax, the cess, the total and what actually lands in your hand. The figures here are planning estimates for FY 2025-26 rules and don't add surcharge, nor do they replace professional advice. Tax rules change between budgets — confirm the current rates and any exemptions for your exact situation before you file.