The post-23-July-2024 capital gains regime
The Budget of July 2024 rewrote capital gains tax for most assets, effective 23 July 2024. Two things changed together: tax rates were simplified (mostly lowered), and the indexation benefit — which adjusted your cost of acquisition for inflation before taxing the gain — was withdrawn for most assets, except as a grandfathered option for property bought before the cutoff date. Here's the summary this calculator uses:
| Asset | Long-term holding period | Short-term rate | Long-term rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listed equity / equity mutual funds (STT paid) | > 12 months | 20% | 12.5%, over a ₹1,25,000 exemption per year |
| Property (land / building) | > 24 months | Slab rate (added to your income) | 12.5% flat, or 20% with indexation if bought before 2024-07-23 |
| Other assets (gold, unlisted shares, foreign shares incl. RSUs, etc.) | > 24 months | Slab rate | 12.5%, no indexation |
A 4% Health & Education cess applies on top of whichever tax figure results, same as for regular income tax.
Property: indexation is now the exception, not the rule
For property bought on or after 23 July 2024, long-term gains are taxed at a flat12.5% with no indexation option at all. For property boughtbefore that date, you get to choose: pay 12.5% on the gain computed without indexation, or 20% on the gain computed after indexing your cost using the Cost Inflation Index (CII) — and you're allowed to pick whichever is cheaper. This calculator computes both automatically and highlights the lower one.
Grandfathering for old equity holdings
If you bought listed equity shares or equity mutual fund units on or before 2018-01-31, your cost of acquisition for LTCG purposes is the higher of the actual purchase price or the fair market value (FMV) on that date — a rule carried over from the original 2018 LTCG reintroduction, and still relevant today for long-held portfolios.
Sections 54, 54F and 54EC — reinvestment exemptions
Property capital gains have several reinvestment routes that can reduce or eliminate the tax shown above — this calculator does not compute them, but it's worth knowing they exist:
- Section 54: exempts LTCG on a residential property if the gain is reinvested in another residential property within the specified time window.
- Section 54F: a similar exemption when the asset sold is not a residential house (e.g. land, or other property) but the sale proceeds are invested in a residential house.
- Section 54EC: exempts LTCG (up to a cap) if invested in specified capital gains bonds (e.g. NHAI/REC) within 6 months of the sale, even without buying another property.
Each has its own conditions, holding/lock-in periods, and caps — talk to a CA before relying on one, especially for large transactions.