Taxation on the Long term Capital Gain from 1st April 2018

Introduction:

You must be aware that from F.Y 18-19, Long Term Capital Gains on equities and equity fund shall be taxed under the newly inserted Section 112A under the I-T Act,1961. By the way of Budget 2018, LTCG on equities has also been brought into tax net. This move has been brought up keeping in mind the fact that a vibrant equity market is essential for the economic growth of a country. Let�s get a deep insight of it and know how it will impact you.

Background:

In 2004, the Capital Gains Tax was abolished and was replaced by the Securities Transaction Tax. Then exemption u/s 10(38) was provided on the equities which were STT paid. However, with the insertion of the new provision u/s 112A, from 1st April 2018, both STT and Capital Gains Tax would levy on the gain in excess of Rs 1,00,000.

Provision before Budget 2018:

Earlier i.e. until F.Y 17-18, the tax on equities was exempt u/s 10(38), if such units or shares were held for at least one year and were subject to STT. Now with the insertion of the provision under Section 112A, the exemption u/s 10(38) stands withdrawn.

Newly Inserted Provision:

As per Sec 112A, �If the LTCG arising on the sale of equity oriented Mutual Funds and equity shares exceeds Rs 1 lakh in a year, then it will be taxed at the rate of 10% without any benefit of indexation. Therefore, if the amount of LTCG is less than Rs 1 lakh in a financial year, then this provision is not for you.

Grandfather Clause :

Excitingly, the exemption on LTCG tax was continued until 31 January 2018 by inserting a grandfather clause in sec 112A. In simple words, if the purchase of equity is done before 31/1/2018 but Sold on or after 1/4/2018 then only the gains that would arise after 31 January 2018 would be considered for the purpose of tax calculation. In such case, the method of determining the Cost of Acquisition (�COA�) of such investments is as under :

The COA of such investments shall be deemed to be the higher of-

1. ���The Actual COA and
2. ����The lower of-

• • Fair Market Value (�FMV�) as on 31-01-2018
  • the Full Value of Consideration �i.e. the Sale Price

Now let�s understand how this provision will impact you with the help of an example:

Particulars	Earlier	Now
Date of Purchase	18-Jan- 16	18-Jan-2016
Date of Sale	5-Apr-18	5-Apr-18
Purchase Price	400000	400000
Sale Price	740000	740000
FMV on 31 January 2018	620000	620000
Computation of taxes on LTCG	�	�
Sale consideration	740000	740000
Less: the cost of acquisition considered	400000	620000
Capital Gains/(Loss)	340000	120000
Exemption u/s 10(38)	340000	�
Net Capital Gain	�	120000
Tax at 10%	�	2000 [Tax levied at 10% on Rs. 20,000 i.e. LTCG exceeding Rs.1 lakh]

In the above example, if the tax would have been below Rs, 1,00,000, then the whole gain amount would have been exempt.

Summary :

The various scenarios which will help you to understand the amendment in a better way have been summarized as below :

Conclusion :

With the amendment in LTCG taxation, volatility in the market cannot be ruled out as most of the investors would favor selling their equities whenever they will get a chance to earn returns in the short term, rather than holding those equities for more than a year and ending up paying 10% LTCG. so that his funds get free frequently and he could re-enter the market.

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