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A capital gains calculator for India turns the tangled rules of asset taxation into a single, clear number. Enter your purchase price, sale price, and holding period, and it returns your tax liability under the current regime—whether you sold listed shares, a plot of land, gold jewellery, or units of a debt fund. The calculator applies the correct rate, accounts for the ₹1.25 lakh equity exemption where eligible, and shows you the impact of indexation for properties that qualify. What used to require a chartered accountant's spreadsheet now takes seconds.
Capital gains tax is levied on the profit you earn when you sell a capital asset for more than what it cost you. The asset can be almost anything of value—shares, mutual funds, property, gold, bonds, or unlisted equity. The profit, not the total sale proceeds, is what gets taxed. This distinction is fundamental: if you bought a flat for ₹50 lakh and sold it for ₹80 lakh, your taxable gain is ₹30 lakh, not ₹80 lakh.
The Income-tax Act, 1961, as reorganised under the new Income-tax Act, 2025, classifies these gains into two categories based on how long you held the asset. Short-term capital gains (STCG) arise when you sell before the holding period threshold. Long-term capital gains (LTCG) arise when you hold beyond it. The threshold itself depends on the asset class: 12 months for listed securities, 24 months for property, gold, and unlisted shares. The tax rates diverge sharply between the two categories, which makes holding-period planning a core part of any investment exit strategy.
The holding period is the single most consequential variable in capital gains taxation. Crossing the threshold transforms a gain from slab-rate or 20% taxation into a 12.5% rate—a difference that can amount to lakhs on a large transaction.
For listed equity shares and equity-oriented mutual funds, the threshold is 12 months. Sell on day 364 and you pay 20% under Section 111A. Sell on day 366 and the gain qualifies as long-term, taxed at 12.5% under Section 112A, with the first ₹1.25 lakh of gains exempt entirely. The same principle applies to property, but the timeline extends to 24 months. Gold, whether physical or in ETF form, also follows the 24-month rule for physical gold and 12 months for gold ETFs.
The 2024 amendments standardised many of these holding periods. Before July 2024, different assets had different thresholds—36 months for some debt funds, 24 months for unlisted shares, and varying rules for others. The simplification reduced the confusion, though transitional provisions still apply to assets acquired before the change.
The tax rates below apply to transfers made in FY 2026-27 (Assessment Year 2027-28). The Union Budget 2026 left headline capital gains rates unchanged, so the structure introduced in 2024 continues to govern.
| Asset Type | Holding Period for LTCG | STCG Rate | LTCG Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listed equity shares / equity mutual funds | More than 12 months | 20% (Section 111A) | 12.5% above ₹1.25 lakh (Section 112A) |
| Residential property (land/building) | More than 24 months | Slab rate | 12.5% without indexation; or 20% with indexation for pre-23 July 2024 acquisitions |
| Physical gold / jewellery | More than 24 months | Slab rate | 12.5% without indexation |
| Gold ETFs | More than 12 months | Slab rate | 12.5% without indexation |
| Debt mutual funds (acquired on/after 1 April 2023) | Not applicable | Slab rate (always short-term) | Not applicable |
| Debt mutual funds (acquired before 1 April 2023) | More than 24 months | Slab rate | 12.5% without indexation |
| Unlisted shares | More than 24 months | Slab rate | 12.5% without indexation |
Two nuances deserve attention. First, the ₹1.25 lakh exemption applies only to long-term gains from listed equity and equity mutual funds. It does not extend to property, gold, or unlisted shares. Second, the indexation option for property is available only to resident individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) selling land or buildings acquired before 23 July 2024. Non-residents and corporate sellers do not have this choice. A capital gains calculator India applies these distinctions automatically, sparing you the risk of selecting the wrong regime.
The basic calculation is straightforward. For short-term gains on most assets, and for long-term gains where indexation is not available:
The cost of acquisition includes the purchase price plus incidental costs like brokerage, stamp duty, and registration charges. Cost of improvement covers capital expenditure that increased the asset's value—not routine repairs or maintenance. Transfer expenses include brokerage, legal fees, and stamp duty on the sale.
When indexation applies, the cost of acquisition is adjusted upward using the Cost Inflation Index:
The CBDT has notified the Cost Inflation Index at 384 for FY 2026-27, up from 376 in FY 2025-26. This 2.12% increase means sellers who qualify for indexation will pay tax on a smaller gain. A property purchased in FY 2014-15 for ₹50 lakh, for instance, has an indexed cost of ₹80 lakh when sold in FY 2026-27 (₹50 lakh × 384 ÷ 240). If the sale price is ₹1 crore, the taxable gain drops from ₹50 lakh to ₹20 lakh—and the tax falls from ₹6.25 lakh under the 12.5% rate to ₹4 lakh under the 20% with-indexation route. That ₹2.25 lakh saving is precisely why the choice between regimes matters.
The Income-tax Act offers several pathways to reduce or eliminate capital gains tax through reinvestment. These exemptions are not automatic—you must meet the conditions and claim them in your return. A free capital gains calculator can help you quantify the gain, but the exemption decision requires understanding the specific section that applies to your situation.
Section 54 covers the sale of a residential house. If you reinvest the long-term capital gain in another residential property—purchased within one year before or two years after the sale, or constructed within three years—the gain is exempt up to the amount reinvested. The new property must be held for at least three years; selling it earlier reverses the exemption and brings the original gain back into the tax net.
Section 54F extends the same principle to gains from assets other than a residential house. Sell shares, gold, or land, and invest the net consideration in a residential property, and you can claim proportional exemption. The full gain is exempt if the entire sale consideration is reinvested; partial reinvestment yields proportional exemption. One condition stands out: you must not own more than one other residential house on the date of sale.
Section 54EC allows exemption by investing in specified bonds—currently those issued by NHAI and REC—within six months of the transfer. The cap is ₹50 lakh per financial year. These bonds have a five-year lock-in and cannot be transferred or pledged.
Section 54B applies to agricultural land, and Section 54D covers compulsory acquisition of industrial land or building. Each carries its own reinvestment timeline and conditions, but the underlying principle is consistent: the government incentivises redeployment of capital into productive or residential assets by deferring or eliminating the tax on the original gain.
Property transactions present the most complex capital gains scenario because of the grandfathering provision for pre-July 2024 acquisitions. If you purchased land or a building before 23 July 2024 and sold it after, you have two options, and you can choose whichever produces the lower tax:
The choice is not always obvious. For a property held for a short period with modest appreciation, the 12.5% rate usually wins because indexation has little effect. For a property held for a decade or more in a high-inflation environment, the 20% with-indexation route often produces a lower bill. The crossover point depends on the ratio of holding period to appreciation. Running both calculations through a capital gains tax calculator India removes the guesswork.
Equity investments are the most common source of capital gains for Indian retail investors, and the rules are relatively clean. Listed equity shares and equity-oriented mutual funds—those with at least 65% exposure to equities—follow a uniform structure.
Short-term gains, arising from holdings of 12 months or less, are taxed at 20% under Section 111A, provided Securities Transaction Tax (STT) was paid on the transaction. This rate increased from 15% to 20% in the 2024 Budget, a change that caught many investors off guard. The rationale was to align equity STCG more closely with slab rates for high-income earners, though it remains a flat rate regardless of your income bracket.
Long-term gains, from holdings exceeding 12 months, are taxed at 12.5% under Section 112A on the amount exceeding ₹1.25 lakh. The exemption is per financial year, not per investment. If you have ₹2 lakh in long-term gains, you pay 12.5% on ₹75,000—a tax of ₹9,375 plus 4% cess. If your gains are ₹1.2 lakh, your tax is zero. This annual exemption creates a legitimate tax-harvesting opportunity: selling long-term holdings up to ₹1.25 lakh of gains each year and immediately repurchasing resets your cost basis without triggering tax.
Gold taxation depends on the form you hold. Physical gold and jewellery are long-term after 24 months, taxed at 12.5% without indexation. Gold ETFs and gold mutual funds, being listed securities, reach long-term status after 12 months and also attract 12.5%. Short-term gains on any gold holding are added to your total income and taxed at your slab rate—which can be as high as 30% for high earners, making short-term gold trading tax-inefficient.
Debt mutual funds underwent a fundamental change in April 2023. Units purchased on or after 1 April 2023 are always treated as short-term, regardless of how long you hold them. The gains are added to your income and taxed at slab rates. This removed the long-term capital gains treatment that debt funds previously enjoyed, effectively eliminating the tax advantage of holding them for more than three years. Units purchased before April 2023 retain their grandfathered status: if held for more than 24 months, they qualify for long-term treatment at 12.5% without indexation.
Sovereign Gold Bonds held to maturity are exempt from capital gains tax entirely. If sold on the secondary market before maturity, the gains are taxed like gold ETF gains—12.5% for long-term, slab rate for short-term.
Non-Resident Indians face the same rate structure for long-term gains but with two critical differences. First, the ₹1.25 lakh exemption on equity LTCG is not available—NRIs pay 12.5% from the first rupee of gain. Second, TDS provisions are more aggressive. When an NRI sells property in India, the buyer must deduct tax at source: 20% for long-term gains and 30% for short-term gains, applied to the entire sale consideration, not just the gain.
This can create a severe cash-flow problem. An NRI selling a ₹1 crore property might see ₹20 lakh deducted as TDS even if the actual tax liability is far lower. The remedy is to apply for a lower or nil TDS certificate using Form 13 before the sale. The Assessing Officer, after reviewing the estimated gain and applicable exemptions, can authorise a reduced deduction. Without this certificate, the NRI must file a return to claim the refund—a process that takes months.
DTAA benefits may also apply. If the NRI resides in a country with a tax treaty that reduces the capital gains rate, the lower treaty rate can be claimed. However, most treaties allow the source country (India) to tax capital gains from immovable property, so the relief is often limited to the TDS rate rather than the ultimate liability.
Capital losses are not wasted. They can be set off against capital gains in the same financial year, and unabsorbed losses can be carried forward for eight assessment years. The rules are asymmetric: short-term capital losses can be set off against both short-term and long-term gains, but long-term capital losses can only be set off against long-term gains.
This distinction matters for portfolio management. If you have a long-term gain of ₹5 lakh from a property sale and a long-term loss of ₹3 lakh from a stock investment, the loss reduces your taxable gain to ₹2 lakh. But if that ₹3 lakh loss is short-term, it can be set off against the long-term property gain just as effectively, and any remaining short-term loss can also offset short-term equity gains taxed at 20%.
To carry forward a loss, you must file your income tax return before the due date. Filing after the deadline forfeits the carry-forward benefit for that year, though the loss can still be set off in the same year if the return is filed late.
A reliable capital gains calculator does more than apply a rate to a number. It should handle four things correctly. First, it must distinguish between asset classes and apply the right holding period. A tool that treats a gold ETF like physical gold will give you the wrong answer. Second, it must correctly apply the ₹1.25 lakh exemption only to eligible equity LTCG, not to property or gold. Third, it should offer both the 12.5% without-indexation and 20% with-indexation options for eligible property sales and show you which is lower. Fourth, it should include the 4% health and education cess and, where applicable, surcharge.
The capital gains calculator on Calculator200 covers all four. It also allows you to enter a future sale date, which is useful for planning an exit around a holding-period threshold or estimating tax before you commit to a transaction.
Capital gains tax is calculated by subtracting the cost of acquisition and improvement from the sale consideration. For long-term assets, you may also deduct transfer expenses. The resulting gain is taxed at the applicable rate—12.5% for most long-term assets without indexation, or 20% with indexation for eligible properties purchased before July 2024.
Short-term capital gains arise when you sell an asset before the prescribed holding period—typically 12 months for listed securities and 24 months for property, gold, and unlisted shares. Long-term gains apply when you hold beyond that threshold. The tax rates differ substantially: short-term gains on equity are taxed at 20%, while long-term gains on equity attract 12.5% above the ₹1.25 lakh exemption.
Yes. Under Section 54, you can claim exemption on long-term capital gains from selling a residential property by reinvesting in another residential house within two years of purchase or three years of construction. Section 54F extends similar benefits to gains from other assets if you invest in a residential house. The exemption is capped at ₹10 crore for the new property cost.
The CBDT has notified the Cost Inflation Index at 384 for FY 2026-27, up from 376 in the previous year. This index is used to calculate the inflation-adjusted cost of acquisition for eligible long-term assets, effectively reducing your taxable capital gains. However, indexation is available only for properties purchased before 23 July 2024 and only if you choose the 20% rate option.
For listed equity shares and equity mutual funds, short-term gains (held up to 12 months) are taxed at 20% under Section 111A. Long-term gains (held over 12 months) are taxed at 12.5% under Section 112A, but only on gains exceeding the annual exemption of ₹1.25 lakh. Indexation is not available for these gains.
For NRIs selling property in India, the buyer must deduct TDS at the applicable rate—typically 20% for long-term gains and 30% for short-term gains. NRIs can apply for a lower or nil TDS certificate using Form 13 if their actual tax liability is lower. DTAA benefits may further reduce the tax burden depending on the country of residence.
Yes. Short-term capital losses can be set off against both short-term and long-term capital gains. Long-term capital losses can only be set off against long-term capital gains. Unabsorbed losses can be carried forward for up to eight assessment years, provided you file your income tax return before the due date.
Yes. Gold ETFs are treated as listed securities. If held for more than 12 months, long-term gains are taxed at 12.5% without indexation. If sold within 12 months, short-term gains are added to your total income and taxed at your applicable slab rate.
To summarise, capital gains tax in India is not a single rate but a matrix of rates, holding periods, asset types, and exemptions. The 2024 restructuring simplified the landscape—uniform 12.5% long-term rate for most assets, 20% short-term rate for equity, and a clean 12/24-month holding period divide—but the transitional provisions for pre-July 2024 property and pre-April 2023 debt funds keep the system from being fully uniform. The practical takeaway is that timing matters as much as the investment itself. Crossing a holding-period threshold, harvesting the annual equity exemption, or routing gains into a Section 54 or 54F reinvestment can legally reduce your tax bill by lakhs. Before you sell, run the numbers through a capital gains calculator India. The clarity it provides is worth far more than the minutes it takes.