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Capital Gains Tax Calculator

Calculate STCG & LTCG tax on your investments

Asset Type
Holding Period
Purchase Price
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Sale Price
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Tax Rate 12.5%
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Capital Gains Tax
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Capital Gain
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Exemption (LTCG)
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Taxable Gain

* LTCG equity exemption โ‚น1.25 lakh per year. Property LTCG: choose indexation (20%) or no-indexation (12.5%).

Selling an investment feels good โ€” until tax season arrives and you realise a chunk of that profit was never really yours. Capital gains tax catches a lot of people off guard, mainly because it works very differently depending on what you sold and how long you held it. This calculator sorts that out before the sale, not after.

Short-Term vs Long-Term: The Holding Period That Decides Everything

Capital gains in India are split into two buckets โ€” STCG and LTCG. The bucket your profit falls into depends on how long you held the asset, and the rates are meaningfully different.

Holding Period Thresholds:

Listed equity shares & equity MFs โ†’ LTCG if held 1+ year
Debt mutual funds โ†’ LTCG if held 2+ years
Property / Land โ†’ LTCG if held 2+ years
Gold (physical/ETF) โ†’ LTCG if held 2+ years

Tax Rates (FY 2024-25, post Budget 2024):

STCG on equity / equity MF โ†’ 20%
LTCG on equity / equity MF โ†’ 12.5% (above โ‚น1.25L exemption per year)
STCG on property/debt โ†’ Added to income, taxed at slab rate
LTCG on property (with indexation) โ†’ 20%
LTCG on property (without indexation) โ†’ 12.5%

The โ‚น1.25 Lakh LTCG Exemption

The first โ‚น1.25 lakh of long-term equity gains in a financial year is completely tax-free. This exemption resets every April 1 โ€” so spreading redemptions across two financial years lets you use the exemption twice. A simple but effective strategy that's perfectly legal.

Capital Gains on Property Sale

Property gains calculation involves indexation โ€” adjusting your purchase price for inflation using the Cost Inflation Index (CII). Budget 2024 gave sellers a choice: apply indexation and pay 20%, or skip indexation and pay 12.5%. For properties purchased many years ago, indexation usually wins.

Harvesting Losses to Offset Gains

Capital losses can be set off against capital gains โ€” short-term losses against short-term or long-term gains, long-term losses only against long-term gains. Losses can be carried forward for 8 years. Once you know your capital gains tax, the full picture comes together through our income tax calculator.

Is capital gains tax applicable on ELSS mutual fund redemption?

Yes. ELSS funds have a 3-year lock-in, so all redemptions qualify as LTCG. Gains above โ‚น1.25 lakh are taxed at 12.5%. The tax-saving benefit of ELSS is on the investment side (80C deduction) โ€” the redemption is taxable like any other equity fund.

What is the capital gains tax on gold sale?

Physical gold and gold ETFs held for more than 2 years are LTCG, taxed at 20% with indexation or 12.5% without. Sovereign Gold Bonds held until maturity are completely exempt from capital gains tax.

Can I save capital gains tax by reinvesting in property?

Yes. Section 54 allows exemption on LTCG from property sale if you reinvest in another residential property within specified timelines. Section 54EC allows reinvestment in specified bonds (NHAI, REC) up to โ‚น50 lakh.

Does NRI pay different capital gains tax in India?

NRIs pay the same capital gains tax rates on Indian assets. However, TDS is deducted at higher rates on the full sale proceeds in many cases โ€” they then claim refund while filing ITR.