Capital Gains in 2026: Two Days That Cost INR 91,000

Stock Market

6 min read

- By Saumya Mishra

Capital Gains in 2026: Two Days That Cost INR 91,000

In January 2024, Arjun sold INR 10 lakh of HDFC shares he had held for 11 months 20 days. His STCG tax: INR 2 lakh. If he had waited 10 more days, his LTCG tax would have been INR 1.09 lakh. That is INR 91,000 - a domestic flight to Europe - lost to the timing gods.

Short-term vs long-term, by asset class

The tax code cares about how long you held before you sold. The threshold differs by asset:

Listed equity / Equity MF

12 months

Above: 12.5% LTCG; below: 20% STCG

Gold / Real estate

24 months

Above: 12.5% LTCG; below: slab rate STCG

Debt mutual funds are a special case: post April 2023, gains are taxed at your slab rate regardless of holding period. Indexation benefit is gone.

Crypto / VDA is even flatter: a 30% tax, 1% TDSon transfers, no holding-period benefit, no loss offset against other income.

The LTCG exemption everyone forgets

You can make up to INR 1.25 lakh of LTCG on listed equity / equity MFs per year, completely tax-free. This exemption resets every April. Smart investors “harvest” this by booking gains up to the limit and reinvesting - resetting their cost basis.

Play with the calculator

Pick an asset class, enter your buy/sell dates and amounts. The calculator shows classification, tax, and - if you are close to the long-term threshold - how much you would save by holding a few more days.

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Loss harvesting, briefly

If you have realized gains above the LTCG exemption, and you also hold losers in your portfolio, you can book some losses to offset the gains. Losses on listed equity set off against equity gains only; carry forward for 8 years.

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In January 2024, Arjun sold INR 10 lakh of HDFC shares he had held for 11 months 20 days. His STCG tax: INR 2 lakh. If he had waited 10 more days, his LTCG tax would have been INR 1.09 lakh. That is INR 91,000 - a domestic flight to Europe - lost to the timing gods.

Short-term vs long-term, by asset class

The tax code cares about how long you held before you sold. The threshold differs by asset:

Listed equity / Equity MF

12 months

Above: 12.5% LTCG; below: 20% STCG

Gold / Real estate

24 months

Above: 12.5% LTCG; below: slab rate STCG

Debt mutual funds are a special case: post April 2023, gains are taxed at your slab rate regardless of holding period. Indexation benefit is gone.

Crypto / VDA is even flatter: a 30% tax, 1% TDSon transfers, no holding-period benefit, no loss offset against other income.

The LTCG exemption everyone forgets

You can make up to INR 1.25 lakh of LTCG on listed equity / equity MFs per year, completely tax-free. This exemption resets every April. Smart investors “harvest” this by booking gains up to the limit and reinvesting - resetting their cost basis.

Play with the calculator

Pick an asset class, enter your buy/sell dates and amounts. The calculator shows classification, tax, and - if you are close to the long-term threshold - how much you would save by holding a few more days.

Capital Gains Calculator

Post Budget 2024 rates for AY 2025-26

Asset class

Buy date

Sell date

Buy amount

Sell amount

STCG 20%, LTCG 12.5% above INR 1.25L annual exemption

Holding

371 days

Classification

LTCG

Gain

INR 40,000

Tax payable

INR 0