The "higher of" step

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.
• Equity Linked Saving SchemeAn equity mutual fund category that carries a section 80C deduction of up to Rs 1.5 lakh with a compulsory three-year lock-in — the shortest lock-in of any tax-saving instrument.
• 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.
• Forward contractA bilateral, over-the-counter agreement between two parties to buy or sell an asset on a fixed future date at a price agreed today — customised to suit them, and binding on both.
• Futures contractA standardised forward traded on an exchange, where the exchange fixes every term except the price and the clearing corporation guarantees settlement, so neither side carries the other's default risk.
• Interest rate swapAn agreement to exchange streams of interest payments on a notional principal for a set period — typically fixed against floating — where only the net difference ever changes hands.