Govt mopped up Rs 98,681 cr from taxing LTCG in listed equities in FY23

The government has garnered Rs 98,681 crore from long term capital gains tax on listed equities in 2022-23, a 15 per cent growth over the previous year, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary gave details of collections from Long Term Capital Gains (LTCG) tax between fiscal 2018-19 and 2022-23 in the Rajya Sabha.

The long term capital gains on equities and units of equity oriented mutual funds were brought in from April 2018. Such gains were taxed at 10 per cent, with gains of up to Rs 1 lakh annually being exempted.

As per the details shared with the Parliament, Rs 98,681.34 crore was collected from LTCG in 2022-23, up 15 per cent over Rs 86,075.49 crore collected in 2021-22 fiscal.

The collection was about Rs 38,589 crore in 2020-21, Rs 26,008 crore in 2019-20 and Rs 29,220 crore in 2018-19.

To a question on whether the government is contemplating to abolish the LTCG tax on equities/mutual funds during 2024-25, Chaudhary said, "There is no such proposal".

The Budget for 2024-25, announced on July 23, hiked LTCG tax on equities and equity oriented mutual funds to 12.5 per cent, from 10 per cent. The exemption threshold was also hiked to Rs 1.25 lakh, from Rs 1 lakh previously.

The holding period for equities for the purpose of calculating long term capital gains is more than 12 months.