City Longterm Financial News

₹1 lakh tax-free gains from stocks and equity oriented mutual funds. With the BSE Sensex rising 26% and the midcap and smallcap indices shooting up more than 60% in the past one year, most stock investors saw their portfolio grow during the financial year. Long-term capital gains from stocks and equity oriented mutual funds are now taxed at 10%.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The margin trading facility (MTF) is a powerful financial instrument. It enables individuals to purchase stocks by paying only a portion of the total value while the broker funds the remaining amount.

capital gains tax rates is a welcome and logical change by the government. Under the new tax rules, stock investing will now attract a 12.5% Long-term capital gains tax (previously 10%) and 20% Short-term capital gains tax (previously 15%). Excluding tax havens such as Hong Kong, Singapore and the UAE, India’s capital gains tax remains one of the lowest globally, especially as the amount of capital gains increases. And as Finance Secretary Somnath explains, analysis of the tax base shows that capital gains tax doesn’t really impact the middle class. 88% of the capital gains income is earned by individuals with an income above Rs. 15 Lakh and 62% by those with an income greater than Rs 1 crore. The investing community in India is a minority demographic that benefits from a tax rate much lower than the marginal rate, a standard tax rate for income earned by salaried and other business incomes. Even with the new rates, we’re still much below the marginal tax rate.

capital gains tax rates across countries to those in India, we observe a range of approaches, from straightforward percentage rates to complex systems with multiple conditions.

fiscal prudence. The glide path 2026-27 onwards envisages fiscal deficits such that the percentage of government debt to GDP keeps falling. This is a very big and ambitious statement for a developing economy like India. These targets are being achieved without compromising on the quality of receipts and expenditures.

filing returns. However, instead of easing compliance, it has often increased the burden on taxpayers mostly because details related to equity transactions in the statement are inaccurate. To make matters worse, the onus of fixing the errors lies with the taxpayers.

Please clarify the tax liability and necessary form/return for a US citizen to get his share of an ancestral property being sold. My Sister is a US citizen withher share in her father's property inherited through a Will. Please clarify the tax liability, the ITR to be filed, and how the Indian Rupee will be converted to US dollars. Please also guide us through the remittance process and the law under RBI/FEMA, etc.Answer: There is no tax liability when one inherits any asset.

Long-term capital gains (LTCG): Profits from the sale of equity shares held for more than 12 months are classified as LTCG. But the same for land or real estate transactions are considered LTCG if the holding period is 24 months. LTCG, from the sale of equity exceeding ₹1 lakh in a fiscal year, is taxed at 10% without indexation benefit.

As the tax-saving season nears its end, many taxpayers turn to tax-harvesting strategies to reduce their tax burden. For those unfamiliar, this approach involves selling investments that are currently at a loss (purchased at a higher price than their current value) to offset the capital gains taxes owed on profitable investments.

I bought residential property A in 2012 and another B in 2013 for ₹62 Lakh and ₹75 lakh respectively. On Nov 2022 I gifted property A to my father and property B to my mother through a registered gift deed. Now I want to sell both properties and I wish to put my Indexed cost as FDs in the bank and invest the taxable capital gains in small flats to save taxes. The sale price of flat A is ₹1 crore and for flat B is ₹2 crore. Can I buy multiple properties and save taxes on long-term capital gains? Since your parents are owners of the respective properties now, the investment has to be made in their name.

Can you explain the tax implications for investors in commercial real estate in India regarding long-term capital gains (LTCG) and short-term capital gains (STCG)? How are these gains taxed, and what factors determine whether a gain is considered long-term or short-term?

ESOPs are issued to the employees at a lesser price than the market price of the shares of the concerned company. “The difference between the market price and the exercise price is considered to be a prerequisite, which is taxed as salary in the hands of the recipient," said Archit Gupta, Founder and CEO, of Clear. The tax saving opportunities on them are similar to tax saving opportunities available for salaried class of people, like 80C deduction, 80D deduction, etc., Gupta added.

Question: The Finance Act 2023 imposed a restriction on the limit of claiming capital gain exemption on the transfer of long-term capital assets to Rs 10 crore under Sections 54 and 54F of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (IT Act). Kindly guide on whether the capital gains exemption in case of a sole proprietor having Long-term capital gains on the sale of commercial property would be restricted to Rs 10 crore or whether such restriction would be made applicable on the cost of the new asset.

Question: I am an Indian resident employed with an Indian subsidiary of a US-based parent company listed in NASDAQ. The parent company has provided us with shares through ESOP schemes. Will the profits made on the sale of these shares be taxable in India? If yes, what are the holding period requirements for short-term and long-term capital gains and the tax rates for short-term and long-term gains in this case? Can we take the benefit of cost inflation indexation here? Answer: Any profit arising on the sale of shares allotted to you under the ESOP or any similar scheme is taxed under the head “Capital Gains" in India.

I am a 30-year-old software engineer working in Kochi and have recently received ₹10 lakh from the sale of a share of agricultural property. Is this amount taxable? Also, if I was to purchase a house with the proceeds, can it be set off for income tax purposes? —Name withheld on request Taxability on the sale of agricultural land will depend on the status/location of the land that has been sold. Agricultural land in a rural area is not considered a capital asset and therefore gain on sale of the same is not subject to income tax.

₹5,15,000 comprising ₹3,70,000 interest income, ₹1,20,000 long-term gain from equity mutual funds, and ₹25,000 short-term gain from equity mutual funds. I also have made short-term losses from debt-oriented mutual funds to the extent of ₹42,000.

I was a retail investor in fixed deposit and NCD of an NBFC whose debt resolution process concluded recently. My FD of Rs 3 lakh was made in July 2017 for 48 months but I received only Rs 73,000 in Sept 2021. I also had been allotted NCDs of Rs 3.28 lakh in their IPO in August 2016 whose maturity was due in August 2019 and I received Rs 1.6 lakh in September 2021. Can I claim a long-term capital loss?—Hardeo Singh Capital gain or loss can only arise when there is a ‘transfer’ of capital asset.