Share market basics
Short-term capital gains: profit on listed shares or equity funds sold within 12 months of purchase, taxed at a flat rate higher than long-term gains.
STCG, short-term capital gains, is the profit on listed equity shares, equity ETFs or equity mutual funds held for twelve months or less before selling. It is taxed at a flat rate regardless of your income slab; at the time of writing the rate is 20%, raised from 15% in 2024, so check the current figure. Suppose you buy 50 SBI shares at ₹760 for delivery and sell them four months later at ₹820. The gain is ₹3,000 and the tax is ₹600. Short-term losses can be set off against both short-term and long-term gains and carried forward for eight years if you file your return on time. Note that intraday profits are not capital gains at all; they are speculative business income taxed at slab rates, and F&O profits are non-speculative business income. Keep your contract notes and use the broker's tax report.
VideoA share is a portion of a company. The share market is where those portions change hands. Here is how it works, what you can trade in it, and why most people who trade actively lose money.
VideoThe share market runs on two activities that look alike and are nothing alike. Investing is owning a business for years. Trading is profiting from price moves over hours or weeks. Mixing them up is behind most early losses.
VideoTrading comes in a few distinct forms, and the one you pick decides how much time, capital and stress it takes. This lesson explains intraday, swing, positional, futures and options trading with Indian examples.
