Capital gains tax in 2026-27, and the advance tax a gain adds

Short-term or long-term, and the rate

A capital asset held for not more than 24 months before it is sold is short-term, and one held longer is long-term (s.2(101)(a) and s.2(67); s.2(42A) and s.2(29AA) of the 1961 Act); for a listed security or an equity fund unit the period is 12 months (s.2(101)(b); the first proviso to s.2(42A) of the 1961 Act). So a listed share bought on 12 October 2025 and sold on 12 October 2026 is short-term. Debt fund units bought from 1 April 2023, market linked debentures and unlisted bonds are short-term however long they are held (s.76; s.50AA of the 1961 Act).

Listed shares, equity fund units and REIT or InvIT units carry their own rates: with STT on the sale, short-term gains are taxed at 20 percent (s.196; s.111A of the 1961 Act); long-term gains at 12.5 percent above ₹ 1,25,000 a year (s.198; s.112A of the 1961 Act) where STT was also paid when the share was bought, or the purchase is one the notification spares (s.198(5), Notification 60/2018 carried over by s.536(2)(j); s.112A(4) of the 1961 Act). Other long-term gains are taxed at 12.5 percent (s.197(1); s.112 of the 1961 Act) and other short-term gains at your slab rates. Crypto stands apart, taxed at 30 percent on the gain over cost with no other deduction (s.194(1) (Table: Sl. No. 4); s.115BBH of the 1961 Act).

From tax year 2026-27 a buy-back is no longer a dividend (s.2(40)(f), omitted by the Finance Act, 2026 (s.35(b)(A)); s.2(22)(f) of the 1961 Act), and the difference between what the company paid and your cost is a capital gain (s.69, as amended by the Finance Act, 2026 (s.42); s.46A of the 1961 Act).

The rates by asset, for a resident

Each kind of asset the calculator takes, with a sale of each worked at five months and at more than three years.

Two rates in a cell are with STT on the sale, then without it; a listed share's long-term rate also needs STT on its purchase, unless the purchase is one the notification spares (s.198(5), Notification 60/2018 carried over by s.536(2)(j); s.112A(4) of the 1961 Act). For those assets bought before 1 February 2018 the cost is the higher of its cost and the lower of the value on 31 January 2018 and the sale value (s.90(7) and s.90(8); s.55(2)(ac) of the 1961 Act).

Seven situations, worked as on 1 November 2026

The calculator's seven situations, each as preset and worked on 1 November 2026.

Tax after TDS is the year's tax less the TDS and TCS expected for the whole year (s.405; s.209 of the 1961 Act).

Losses: where they go

A loss is first netted inside its own group. A short-term loss left over can be set off against any capital gain, a long-term loss only against long-term gains (s.108(2); s.70(2) and s.70(3) of the 1961 Act), and the rest carries forward for eight years (s.111(2); s.74(3) of the 1961 Act) if the return was filed on time.

The Act prescribes no order between the groups (s.108 to s.111; s.70 to s.74 of the 1961 Act), and the order changes the tax. The trader in the third situation brings forward a short-term loss of ₹ 2,50,000 and a long-term loss of ₹ 1,00,000 from 2018-19. Set first against the gold ETF's ₹ 80,000 gain, the long-term loss leaves ₹ 73,580 of tax on the year; set first against listed equity, the tax would be ₹ 83,980, ₹ 10,400 more, the loss spent on gains the ₹ 1,25,000 exemption already covers.

A loss from 2018-19 is in its last year in 2026-27 (s.536(2)(n)); the trader's is used in full. A crypto loss is set off against nothing: in the fifth situation a ₹ 80,000 crypto loss is ignored. A business loss, or a house property loss under the old regime, can also be set off against gains (s.109(1); s.71 of the 1961 Act); the calculator warns of one rather than setting it off.

The inherited flat: 12.5 percent or 20 percent with indexation

The fourth situation: a flat a parent bought on 15 August 2005 for ₹ 25,00,000, to be sold on 25 January 2027 for ₹ 1,20,00,000 with ₹ 1,20,000 of expenses. The tax on the gain is the lower of A and B (s.197(3); the second proviso to s.112(1)(a) of the 1961 Act).

The 2026-27 index, 384, and indexing from the parent's year are both as reported, so the second row reads from the year it became yours. A new house bought from 25 January 2026 to 25 January 2029, or built by 25 January 2030 (for a residential house, s.82; s.54 of the 1961 Act; for any other land or building, s.86; s.54F of the 1961 Act), or bonds bought by 25 July 2027, up to ₹ 50,00,000 (s.85; s.54EC of the 1961 Act), can exempt some or all of this gain. These figures are before any such exemption.

When the gain arises, and what is due

The first situation's sale moved into each quarter, worked as on 31 March 2027: the advance tax due by each date, counted from 1 April.

A gain made on 10 September 2026 had arisen by 15 September, so 45 percent of its tax, ₹ 18,428, is due by then and none of it by 15 June (s.425(4); the second proviso to s.234C(1) of the 1961 Act).

Who pays no advance tax, and the interest if you miss

Advance tax is not payable by a resident aged 60 or more at any time in the year without business or professional income (s.403(3); s.207(2) of the 1961 Act): the retiree in the second situation pays the ₹ 80,760 left after TDS as self assessment tax before filing, by 31 July 2027. A business profit ends it: a retiree of 66 with ₹ 2,00,000 of F&O profit, having paid ₹ 10,000 on 10 September 2026, owes ₹ 72,550 more by 15 March for a fund sale planned in January. A business at nil profit or a loss is not settled; the calculator follows the cautious reading that the exemption does not apply, as the advance tax calculator does.

Otherwise advance tax is due where the year's tax after TDS is ₹ 10,000 or more (s.404; s.208 of the 1961 Act). A shortfall on an instalment costs 3 percent, or 1 percent on 15 March (s.425(1); s.234C of the 1961 Act), and where less than 90 percent is paid by 31 March the year's shortfall costs 1 percent a month from April (s.424; s.234B of the 1961 Act), each on an amount rounded down to a multiple of ₹ 100 (Rule 269(c) of the Income-tax Rules, 2026; Rule 119A(c) of the 1962 Rules).

In the first situation, nothing more paid by 15 December 2026 costs ₹ 921 on that instalment, 3 percent of ₹ 30,700. Paying nothing more this year costs ₹ 3,701, the relief for later gains lost, and on 31 July 2027 the return asks ₹ 44,651. A stricter reading of the relief, which the calculator discloses and the advance tax calculator does not use, asks all ₹ 40,950 by 15 December; on it the ₹ 10,237 gap would lose the relief on 15 June and 15 September, ₹ 735 in interest.

What the calculator does

For a resident in tax year 2026-27, the calculator takes each sale, as sale figures or a gain from a statement, with the losses brought forward and your other income. It works each gain's group, grandfathering and the property comparison, sets the losses off and shows the tax the gains add, then the advance tax due by each instalment against the whole year's TDS and TCS, and the interest if one is missed. It ends with a list for your CA and the plan as an Excel or PDF file.