Why it’s time the government bit the bullet on simplifying capital-gains tax
Thanks Sehej. For most listed debt securities, the holding period is 12 months to qualify as long-term. This is similar to listed equity stocks. The LTCG tax rate for such listed debt securities is also the same as listed equity stocks - 10% without indexation. The difference though is that while there is an exemption of Rs 1 lakh on LTCG of listed equity shares, this benefit is not available for listed debt securities. Also, for such listed debt securities, the STCG tax rate is the slab rate, while it is 15% for listed equity shares. When it comes to unlisted debt securities, the holding period is 36 months, different from the 24 months for unlisted equity shares. The tax rates are the same though for unlisted debt securities and unlisted equity shares - 20% with indexation for LTCG and slab rates for STCG.