Short Term Capital Gain
Also written STCG · Short Term Capital Gain (STCG)
Gain on units held for 12 months or less (equity-oriented and listed securities) or 24 months or less (other assets).
This one is not written up yet
The definition above is the short version. A full explanation — how it works, a worked example and the exam traps — is still being written. In the meantime the chapter below covers it in context.
Written up from the same chapter
- Bonus strippingBuying units shortly before a bonus issue and selling the originals at the halved NAV to manufacture a capital loss — a loss the Income Tax Act disallows inside a defined 3-month and 9-month window.
- Dividend Distribution TaxThe tax a mutual fund scheme itself deducted before paying a dividend, abolished from April 2020 — since when the payout has instead been taxed in the investor's own hands at their slab rate.
- Equity-oriented fundA fund that puts at least 65% of its proceeds into listed domestic equity shares — the tax definition that unlocks the 12.5% long-term rate and the Rs 1,25,000 annual exemption.
- Section 80CThe income-tax deduction for money put into life insurance, provident fund, ELSS, five-year bank deposits, NPS Tier 1, NSC and home-loan principal, capped in aggregate at Rs 1,50,000 a year.
- Securities Transaction TaxA central government tax collected by the exchange on the sell side of every futures and option trade — 0.05% of futures traded value, 0.15% of option premium, and 0.15% of settlement price on exercise.
Where this is taught
Free preparation for NISM Series V-ARelated terms
- Specified Mutual FundA mutual fund caught by section 50AA — gains on it are short-term no matter how long it was held, and are taxed at the investor's slab rate.
- Bonus sharesAdditional shares issued free to existing shareholders in proportion to their holding — no tax at allotment, a nil cost of acquisition, and a fresh holding period from the allotment date.
- Employee Stock Option PlanA right, not an obligation, for an employee to buy employer shares at a pre-fixed price — taxed twice: as a salary perquisite on exercise, and as capital gains on eventual sale.
- Bonus strippingBuying units shortly before a bonus issue and selling the originals at the halved NAV to manufacture a capital loss — a loss the Income Tax Act disallows inside a defined 3-month and 9-month window.
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