Market movers: Explaining the surge in Indians declaring capital gains

Income Tax data shows how new investors are making money and how much

American Jesse Livermore, considered one of the great stock market traders of the last century, often made money even when everyone around him was going bankrupt. When the market crashed in October 1929, he reportedly went home to tell his wife that he had made more money than ever before.

India’s count of aspiring Livermores may be swelling. The number of people reporting short-term capital gains in Income Tax data has more than doubled since the pandemic to 3.1 million in assessment year 2021-22. This may be what prompted the government to talk about tax reforms on capital