STCG Calculator — Short-Term Capital Gains Tax (India, FY 2026-27)

STCG tax rates FY 2026-27 (Budget 2024 rates)

What is the STCG tax rate in India 2026?

For FY 2026-27, the STCG tax rate on listed equity and equity mutual funds is 20% flat under Section 111A. For every other asset class — unlisted equity, property held under 24 months, gold, debt mutual funds (post-1-April-2023 under Section 50AA), foreign stocks — the rate is your income-tax slab rate, which means 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, or 30% depending on your total income bracket. Residual heads such as interest or family-pension income are taxed under Section 56 (income from other sources), not as STCG. The 4% health & education cess applies on top of all STCG tax. The headline 20% rate took effect on 23 July 2024 via the Finance (No. 2) Act 2024; before that, equity STCG was 15%.

Is STCG on equity 15% or 20%?

It is 20% for any sale executed on or after 23 July 2024. The 15% rate under the earlier version of Section 111A applied only to sales completed on or before 22 July 2024. The changeover is by date of transaction, not date of purchase — so even if you bought shares in 2022 and sold them in August 2024, the 20% rate applies to the gain. Reference: Finance (No. 2) Act 2024, Section 111A amendment (notified by CBDT in the Gazette of India on 16 August 2024).

How is STCG taxed on debt mutual funds?

The rule depends entirely on the purchase date of the debt MF units:

• Units bought on or after 1 April 2023: Section 50AA applies. There is no STCG/LTCG distinction — every gain, regardless of holding period, is added to your total income and taxed at your slab rate. A 10-year hold and a 10-day hold both get the same treatment.
• Units bought before 1 April 2023: the legacy rule continues. STCG (slab rate) if held under 36 months; LTCG (12.5% without indexation after Budget 2024) if held 36+ months. These units are gradually being redeemed out of the system, but the cost basis still matters until they are sold.
• Identification: AMC consolidated account statements show purchase dates explicitly. If you have a mix of pre- and post-April-2023 units, FIFO determines which are redeemed first.

Can I offset STCG with capital losses?

Yes — and short-term capital losses (STCL) are the most flexible loss head available in Indian tax law. STCL in the current year can be set off against both STCG and LTCG of the same financial year (LTCL, by contrast, can only offset LTCG). Unabsorbed STCL carries forward for 8 assessment years and still retains the ability to offset both STCG and LTCG in those future years. The two non-negotiable conditions are: (1) the ITR must be filed by the due date under Section 139(1) to preserve the carry-forward — a belated return forfeits it; (2) STCL cannot be set off against salary, business, or other-sources income, only against capital gains. The crypto (VDA) regime under Section 115BBH is a complete exception — those losses cannot offset anything, not even other crypto gains.

Section 111A — the equity STCG provision

Section 111A of the Income-tax Act is the specific carve-out that applies 20% flat rate (up from 15% before Budget 2024) on short-term gains from listed equity shares and units of equity mutual funds, provided Securities Transaction Tax (STT) has been paid on both the buy leg and the sell leg. The STT requirement is the hinge: off-market transfers, bulk deals on platforms that do not charge STT, and international equity do not qualify for Section 111A and are instead taxed at your income-tax slab rate as regular short-term gain.

A small but material point: if you have zero other income for the year, you can set off a portion of equity STCG against the basic exemption limit (₹4 lakh for FY 2026-27 under the new regime). The STCG calculator auto-applies this at computation time for residents where total taxable income is lower than the basic exemption.

Worked examples — short-term capital gains tax calculator in action

Five realistic scenarios showing exactly what an STCG tax calculator should output under FY 2026-27 rules. All figures assume the assessee has salary/business income above the basic exemption, so STCG is fully taxable with no basic-exemption set-off.

Example 1 — Listed equity STCG (Section 111A)

• Bought 500 shares of Reliance at ₹2,800 on 15 June 2026 (cost ₹14,00,000)
• Sold same 500 shares at ₹3,100 on 2 December 2026 (proceeds ₹15,50,000)
• Holding: 5 months 17 days → short-term
• STT paid on both legs → Section 111A applies
• Gain = ₹15,50,000 − ₹14,00,000 = ₹1,50,000
• Tax @ 20% = ₹30,000
• 4% health & education cess = ₹1,200
• Total STCG tax payable = ₹31,200

Example 2 — Equity mutual fund STCG

• SIP into an equity MF: ₹20,000/month × 8 months = ₹1,60,000 invested by Dec 2026
• NAV at redemption ₹32.40, average cost ₹30.50
• Redeemed 5,000 units at ₹1,62,000 in January 2027
• Holding per FIFO: 8 months → short-term
• Gain = ₹1,62,000 − ₹1,52,500 = ₹9,500
• Tax @ 20% = ₹1,900 + 4% cess = ₹1,976
• Total tax = ₹1,976 (negligible, but still reportable in Schedule CG)

Example 3 — Unlisted equity shares (slab rate)

• Bought employer ESOP at FMV ₹100/share × 2,000 shares = ₹2,00,000 allotted 1 July 2025
• Sold privately at ₹250/share in April 2026 (consideration ₹5,00,000)
• Holding: 9 months → short-term (unlisted threshold is 24 mo)
• Gain = ₹3,00,000
• Added to total salary income (say ₹18 L base) → pushes into 30% slab
• Tax on STCG portion @ 30% = ₹90,000 + 4% cess = ₹93,600
• Effective STCG rate on unlisted shares ≈ your marginal slab — usually materially higher than the 20% Section 111A rate for listed equity.

Example 4 — Short-term property sale

• Bought plot for ₹40,00,000 in October 2024
• Sold for ₹55,00,000 in March 2026
• Holding: 17 months → short-term (property threshold 24 mo post-Budget-2024)
• Gain = ₹15,00,000 (no indexation ever on STCG, irrespective of Budget 2024)
• Added to total income → 30% slab at typical taxpayer income level
• Tax = ₹4,50,000 + 4% cess = ₹4,68,000
• Plus 1% TDS of ₹55,000 was already deducted by the buyer under Section 194-IA (claim as credit in Schedule TDS of ITR)

Example 5 — Short-term foreign stock sale (US equity)

• Bought 50 shares of Apple at $180 × ₹86 = ₹7,74,000 in Mar 2026
• Sold 50 shares at $205 × ₹88 = ₹9,02,000 in Nov 2026
• Holding: 8 months → short-term (foreign stocks are unlisted, threshold 24 mo)
• Gain = ₹1,28,000 — taxed at slab rate because Section 111A does not apply (no Indian STT)
• 30% slab → ₹38,400 + 4% cess = ₹39,936
• FTC (foreign tax credit) claim available if US already withheld — file Form 67 by ITR due date

Example 6 — ₹5 L equity STCG: pre-Budget 15% vs post-Budget 20%

The 23 July 2024 rate change still trips up taxpayers who held positions across the transition. Same gain, two answers depending on the sale date:

• Setup: Bought shares for ₹15,00,000 in September 2023; sold for ₹20,00,000. Holding under 12 months → short-term. STT paid on both legs → Section 111A applies.
• Gain: ₹20,00,000 − ₹15,00,000 = ₹5,00,000
• If sold on or before 22 July 2024 (old 15% rate): Tax = 15% × ₹5,00,000 = ₹75,000; cess 4% = ₹3,000; total ₹78,000.
• If sold on or after 23 July 2024 (new 20% rate): Tax = 20% × ₹5,00,000 = ₹1,00,000; cess 4% = ₹4,000; total ₹1,04,000.
• Transition delta: ₹26,000 extra on the same ₹5 L gain — a 33% increase in the effective short-term tax burden. For FY 2025-26 and FY 2026-27, every sale falls under the 20% regime; the 15% column is shown only because carry-forward losses from FY 2024-25 (when the asymmetric year had both rates) still surface in long-tail reconciliations.

STCG vs LTCG — when does short-term end?

The short-term / long-term dividing line varies by asset class and was materially changed by the Finance (No. 2) Act 2024. If you sold an asset close to a threshold, the exact day count matters because a one-day difference can halve your tax bill.

• Listed equity + equity MF: 12 months. Day of purchase counts as day 1; day of sale is included in the holding period per CBDT Circular 704.
• Unlisted equity + foreign stocks: 24 months. Same day-count rule.
• Property (land, buildings, flats): 24 months post-Budget-2024 (was 36 months for the FY 2023-24 assessment year and earlier). Use the date of registration, not the date of agreement/allotment, as the acquisition date unless a specific exception applies.
• Gold / silver / SGB / other assets: 24 months post-Budget-2024 (was 36). SGB held to the full 8-year maturity remains fully tax-exempt under a separate provision.
• Debt MF post-1-Apr-2023: No STCG/LTCG distinction. Section 50AA taxes all gains at your slab rate regardless of holding period — even a 10-year hold yields no LTCG treatment.

Set-off and carry-forward of short-term losses

Short-term capital losses (STCL) are among the most flexible loss-offset instruments in Indian tax law:

• Same-year set-off: STCL can be set off against both STCG and LTCG of the same financial year. Contrast with LTCL, which can only offset LTCG. This asymmetry makes STCL strategically valuable for tax-loss harvesting.
• Carry-forward: unabsorbed STCL carries forward for 8 assessment years. In future years it can still offset both STCG and LTCG. Missing the ITR filing due date forfeits the carry-forward — file on time.
• Cannot offset: STCL cannot offset salary, house-property income, business income, or other-sources income. The offset channel is capital gains only.
• Crypto (VDA) exception: under Section 115BBH, crypto losses cannot be offset against any income head — including other capital gains. This is a specific carve-out in the crypto regime; regular STCL rules do not apply.

Advance tax on STCG

If your total tax liability including STCG exceeds ₹10,000 after TDS credits, you must pay advance tax in four instalments: 15% by 15 June, 45% by 15 September, 75% by 15 December, and 100% by 15 March. Capital gains realised after a quarter-end can be paid with the next instalment (no interest under 234C for quarters before the gain was realised). Senior citizens (age 60+) without business income are exempt from advance tax.

For equity STCG under Section 111A, there is no TDS for resident individuals — the full tax must be paid through advance tax or self-assessment. NRIs face 20% TDS on equity STCG (deducted by the broker) and should plan the balance through self-assessment if any.

Reporting STCG in your ITR

Any capital gains — short or long — require ITR-2 (or ITR-3 if you also have business income). ITR-1 has no Schedule CG and filing it with even ₹1 of capital gain triggers a Section 139(9) defective-return notice. See our ITR filing + AIS reconciliation guide for the form-choice decision tree.

Schedule CG in ITR-2/3 has separate rows for 111A equity STCG, slab-rate STCG on other assets, and carry-forward losses. TDS on property (u/s 194-IA) or NRI equity (u/s 195) flows in from Form 26AS and must match what you declare — cross-check AIS before submitting.