Budget 2018: FM may extend short-term capital gains tax on stocks to 3 yrs

Finance ministry may tweak tax norms for listed stocks

The finance ministry is considering extending the holding period for short-term capital gains (STCG) tax on listed securities from one year to three years, bringing equities on a par with some other asset classes in tax treatment. This is among a number of measures for the capital markets that may be announced in the Union Budget for 2018-19.

The STCG tax on stocks and mutual funds is 15 per cent at present. Listed securities held above a year do not attract any tax. The long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax on this asset class was removed in 2005, making India one