Capital Gains Calculator

⚡ In shortSold shares, mutual funds or property? Estimate your capital gains tax — short-term or long-term — free and instant.

Open the free Capital Gains Calculator →

How it is calculated

Capital gain is the sale price minus the cost (and eligible expenses). For listed equity and equity mutual funds, long-term gains (held over 12 months) are taxed at 12.5% above the ₹1.25 lakh exemption and short-term at 20%. Property and other assets held long-term are taxed at 12.5% (verify indexation/grandfathering options). Holding period and asset type decide the rate.

The rates changed on 23 July 2024

The long-term regime was restructured with effect from 23 July 2024, and most of the material still circulating online describes the position before that. Long-term gains now generally attract 12.5%, and the indexation benefit that used to lift the cost of acquisition in line with inflation no longer applies in the general case. One relief was kept for land and buildings: where a resident individual or HUF sells property acquired before that date, the tax is the lower of 12.5% without indexation and 20% with it. That makes the choice worth computing both ways rather than assuming, because a property held for fifteen or twenty years often comes out cheaper on the indexed route. For listed equity and equity mutual funds the picture is simpler — 12.5% on long-term gains above the ₹1.25 lakh annual exemption, and 20% on short-term gains under section 111A.

Holding period decides everything, and it varies by asset

Before any rate applies you have to establish whether the gain is short-term or long-term, and the dividing line is not the same for every asset. Listed shares and equity mutual funds turn long-term after 12 months. Immovable property, unlisted shares and gold need 24 months. Debt mutual funds bought on or after 1 April 2023 are a category of their own — they get no long-term treatment at all, and the gain is added to your income and taxed at your slab rate however long you held them. Virtual digital assets sit outside this framework entirely, taxed at a flat rate with no set-off of losses and a separate TDS on transfers. The count runs from the date of acquisition to the date of transfer, and for a SIP every instalment is a separate purchase — so a single redemption can pull units from both sides of the line.

Cost of acquisition is more than the purchase price

The most common reason a computed gain comes out too high is that only the purchase price was deducted. Cost of acquisition properly includes stamp duty, registration charges, brokerage and legal fees paid when you bought. Cost of improvement is deductible too — capital work that added to the property, such as an additional floor or a substantial structural change, though routine repairs, repainting and maintenance do not qualify. Expenses incurred wholly in connection with the transfer, principally brokerage on the sale, come off the sale consideration. All of this needs documentation: invoices, bank records and the registered deeds. For property acquired a very long time ago, the fair market value as on a prescribed date can be substituted for actual cost, which usually requires a registered valuer's report — worth obtaining before you sell rather than after.

Losses have a set-off order and a filing condition

Handling losses correctly often saves more tax than any exemption. A short-term capital loss can be set off against both short-term and long-term gains. A long-term capital loss can only be set off against long-term gains. Neither can be set off against salary or business income — capital gains is a separate head and stays separate. Whatever cannot be absorbed in the year can be carried forward for eight assessment years, but that carry-forward is conditional on one thing people routinely overlook: the return must be filed by the due date. File late and the right is simply gone, which is why a loss-making year is one of the strongest reasons to file on time. Keep the broker's capital gains statement each year, since reconstructing acquisition dates several years later is considerably harder than downloading them now.

Section 54 and 54EC: the two reinvestment routes

Long-term gains can be sheltered by reinvesting, and the two main routes suit different intentions. Section 54 applies where a residential house is sold and another residential house is bought — within one year before or two years after the sale, or constructed within three years. The exemption is proportionate to the amount actually reinvested, and a ceiling applies to very large gains. Section 54EC is the alternative for immovable property generally: invest the gain in specified bonds within six months of the transfer, capped at ₹50 lakh in a financial year, locked in for five years at a modest rate of interest which is itself taxable. The trap in both is timing. If the money has not been reinvested by the due date for filing your return, it must be parked in a Capital Gains Account Scheme deposit — miss that and the exemption is lost for that year even if you buy later.

What the calculator cannot know

This tool computes the gain and the tax from the figures you enter, which makes it a good way to size a liability before a transaction. It does not know several things that can change the answer materially. It does not know whether you intend to reinvest under section 54 or 54EC, which could reduce the tax to nil. It does not know your other income, which determines the slab that applies to short-term gains on assets outside section 111A, or to debt fund gains. It does not know whether you have carried-forward losses available from earlier years. And it applies the general rule rather than the lower-of-two option available on older property. Treat the output as an estimate for planning and cash-flow purposes, and take advice before a large transaction rather than after — most of the planning options close once the sale is done.

Records to keep from the day you buy

Capital gains is the one head of income where the documentation you need may be twenty years old, so the habit worth forming is at purchase rather than at sale. Keep the registered sale deed or allotment letter, the receipts for stamp duty and registration, the brokerage invoice, and the bank statements showing the money moving. For anything you build or improve, keep the contractor's bills and payment records, separated from ordinary repairs which are not deductible. For shares and mutual funds, download the capital gains statement from your broker or registrar every year rather than relying on being able to reconstruct it later, and keep the contract notes. Where property was inherited or gifted, keep the previous owner's purchase documents too, since your holding period and cost generally take theirs. A single folder per asset, added to as you go, is the whole system.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to reinvest before filing my return?

If you intend to claim section 54 and have not yet bought or built, the gain must be deposited in a Capital Gains Account Scheme account by the due date for filing. Miss that and the exemption is lost for that year even if you buy the property later.

Can I still claim indexation on property?

Only in one situation. Where a resident individual or HUF sells land or a building acquired before 23 July 2024, the tax is the lower of 12.5% without indexation and 20% with it — so it is worth computing both ways on a long-held property. Outside that case indexation no longer applies to long-term gains.

What happens to a capital loss I cannot use this year?

It carries forward for eight assessment years, but only if you file the return by the due date. Short-term losses set off against both short and long-term gains; long-term losses only against long-term gains. Neither can be set off against salary.

How is long-term capital gains tax calculated on shares?

Listed-equity LTCG is taxed at 12.5% on gains above the ₹1.25 lakh annual exemption; short-term gains are taxed at 20%. Verify the current rates.

Is capital gains tax different for property?

Yes — property/other long-term gains are taxed at 12.5%, with a grandfathering/indexation option for older assets. Confirm which is better for you.

Is this tax advice?

No. Rates and exemptions change. Confirm with a CA before relying on the figure.