Find long-term capital gains tax, using different rules for shares and other assets.
Equity gets an annual ₹1.25 lakh exemption before the 12.5% rate applies; other long-term assets are taxed at 12.5% from the first rupee.
Equity LTCG: 12.5% on (gain − ₹1.25L)
Other LTCG: 12.5% on the full gain
Long-term capital gains are profits from assets you held beyond the long-term period for that asset. This calculator focuses only on the long-term case. You enter the gain and choose whether the asset is listed equity, such as shares or equity mutual funds, or another asset, and it works out the taxable gain, the tax and the gain left after tax.
It is most useful for equity investors deciding how much to sell in a financial year, since the equity exemption resets every year. An investor in Ahmedabad with a large profit in an index fund can use it to see how much tax a sale triggers, and whether splitting the sale across two financial years would save tax. The calculator answers: on this long-term gain, what is the tax?
1. Compute the long-term gain: sale price − cost of acquisition, after allowed expenses.
2. Decide whether the asset is listed equity with securities transaction tax paid, or another asset.
3. Equity: taxable gain = gain − ₹1,25,000, but not below zero.
4. Equity tax = taxable gain × 12.5%.
5. Other assets: tax = full gain × 12.5%, as the calculator applies it.
6. Gain after tax = gain − tax. Add 4% cess and any surcharge on top in your return.
For listed equity, the first ₹1,25,000 of long-term gains in a financial year is not taxed, and only the excess is taxed at 12.5%. The exemption is per person per year, across all your equity sales together, not per sale. It does not carry forward if you do not use it. This is why some investors sell and buy back units each year to book gains within the exemption, a practice often called tax harvesting.
Because of the exemption, the tax as a share of the whole equity gain is lower than 12.5% and rises with the size of the gain. On a gain of ₹2,00,000, only ₹75,000 is taxed, giving ₹9,375 of tax, an effective 4.7%. On ₹10,00,000, tax is ₹1,09,375, about 10.9%. As the gain grows, the effective rate approaches 12.5% but never reaches it. For non-equity assets there is no exemption, so the effective rate is 12.5% from the first rupee.
Listed equity pays securities transaction tax on every trade, and the law gives it a concessional long-term regime with an exemption. Property, gold and similar assets do not pay that tax and are taxed under a different provision without the exemption. Since July 2024, both carry a 12.5% rate on long-term gains, but the exemption and the holding periods differ. Some debt mutual funds bought after certain dates are taxed at slab rates regardless of holding period, so check your fund's category.
Hardik, an investor in Ahmedabad, is redeeming index fund units he has held for four years. His long-term gain on the sale is ₹3,80,000, and he has no other equity gains this year.
Answer: LTCG tax ₹31,875; Tax rate applied 12.5%; Exemption used ₹1,25,000
Applying the ₹1,25,000 exemption separately to each sale instead of once per year.
Using the equity rule for gold ETFs or debt funds, which are not equity.
Forgetting cess, which is added to the tax.
Counting the full sale value as the gain instead of sale minus cost.
Assuming unused exemption can be carried to the next year.
Planning equity redemptions to stay within the yearly exemption.
Estimating tax on selling a long-held property or gold.
Comparing the tax cost of selling now versus next financial year.
Preparing capital gains figures for the return.
Can I use the ₹1.25 lakh exemption on non-equity assets too?
No. This ₹1.25 lakh exemption, under Section 112A, only applies to listed shares and equity mutual funds. Other long-term assets, under Section 112, do not get this exemption.