Confused whether capital gains tax on your asset sale will be short term or long term? Here is a complete guide

If you have recently sold an asset and are unsure whether the sale will be computed as per the short-term or long-term capital gain tax, then you need to first determine the holding period of the asset. This is the threshold that determines whether the capital gain is short term or crossed over to long term.

For example, if the asset happpened to be gold or jewellery, then the holding period is 24 months against 36 months earlier.

Likewise, the property’s holding period remains the same, i.e., 24 months. The holding period of equity also remains the same, i.e., 12 months. The gains on the sale of unlisted shares—when sold within 24 months—will be computed under short-term capital gains.

Similarly, the sale of bonds and debentures will be taxed as long-term capital gain when it occurs within 2 years of purchase, as opposed to 3 years earlier.

Holding period determines if the capital gain is short term or long term

It is noteworthy that capital gains tax underwent a series of changes in Budget 2024. The finance ministry – in its quest to bring rationalisation and simplification – tweaked the tax rates across asset classes for short term as well as long term capital gains tax.

For instance, when the assets sold are listed equity shares, equity-oriented mutual funds or business trust, then long-term capital gain tax rate will be 12.5 per cent against 10 per cent earlier.

As far as all other long-term capital assets are concerned, the tax rate has been reduced from 20 per cent to 12.5 per cent, while indexation has been removed. Meanwhile, short-term capital gains on the sale of listed equity shares and equity mutual funds will be taxed at 20 per cent against 15 per cent earlier.

Read this Livemint article for more details.

Meanwhile, the exemption limit given on capital gain of equity has been raised to ₹1.25 lakh against ₹1 lakh earlier.