Post-Tax Return Calculator
A 12% return is not 12% once the tax is paid, and how much you lose depends far more on what you held and for how long than on how well it did. Enter the asset, the amount and the holding period to see the tax, what is left, and the month a gain turns long term.
Covers listed equity, gold in five formats, fixed deposits and crypto under the rules as they stand after the 23 July 2024 changes. This tool is for education only — not investment or tax advice.
What you hold
Also index funds, ELSS and arbitrage funds — anything at least 65% equity
More than 12 months — long term, LTCG at 12.5%
₹11.85 L
Not used here — listed shares & equity mutual funds pays a flat statutory rate.
The ₹1.25 lakh exemption is shared across all your equity long-term gains.
Of your ₹1.85 L gain
you keep ₹1.77 L
tax of ₹7,839 — 4.2% of the gain
How this is worked out. ₹10.00 L growing at 12.0% for 18 months reaches ₹11.85 L. Tax falls once, on sale: LTCG at 12.5% under section 112A. What is left is what you keep.
Return before tax
12.0%
Return after tax
11.5%
a year
Tax paid
₹7,839
The same ₹10.00 L for 18 months, held as
Bar length = what you keep after tax.
Same amount, same return, same months — every difference below is tax alone.
What you keep after tax
You keep ₹1.77 L
₹10.00 L in listed shares & equity mutual funds for 18 months
- Gain before tax
- ₹1.85 L
- Tax
- ₹7,839
- Return before tax
- 12.0%
- Return after tax
- 11.5%
Long term · LTCG at 12.5% · estimate, not advice · jpvfin.com
Keep this result
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How this is calculated
The rate here is statutory, so it does not move with your income. What moves the outcome is the holding period and, for equity, how much of the ₹1.25 lakh exemption you have already used elsewhere this year.
Estimates for FY 2026-27 under the rules as they stand after the 23 July 2024 changes. Returns you enter are assumptions, not forecasts. Surcharge above ₹50 lakh of total income is not applied, indexation is not modelled (it no longer applies to these assets), and exit loads, expense ratios, brokerage, STT and GST are excluded. Physical gold carries 3% GST on purchase, which is not counted here. Debt funds, property, ULIPs, ESOPs and unlisted shares are deliberately not covered — their rules turn on acquisition dates this tool does not ask for. Confirm your own position before acting.
The line falls after the threshold, not on it
Section 2(42A) calls an asset short-term when it is held for not more than the threshold. So twelve months exactly is still short-term, and the long-term rate begins at month thirteen. On a ₹10 lakh equity holding up 12%, selling in month twelve rather than month thirteen can cost around ₹20,000 in tax on an identical gain. The calculator names the exact month rather than the threshold for this reason.
Gold is five assets, not one
A gold ETF turns long-term after 12 months. A gold fund that holds that same ETF needs 24. So do physical and digital gold. A Sovereign Gold Bond held to maturity by its original subscriber is exempt altogether. Same metal, same price, four different answers — the wrapper decides the tax.
A deposit is taxed every year, not at the end
Interest accrues and is taxed annually, so the tax leaves the deposit each year and never compounds. Applying the tax once to the maturity interest — which most calculators do — overstates what you keep. This one models the accrual, which is why its fixed-deposit figure is lower and closer to what you will actually see.
A crypto loss buys you nothing
Under Section 115BBH gains are taxed at a flat 30% plus cess whatever your slab and however long you hold. A loss is worse than it looks: it cannot be set off against other income, cannot be set off against gains on other crypto, and cannot be carried forward. The calculator says so rather than showing a reassuring zero.
Frequently asked questions
Is a gain held for exactly 12 months long-term or short-term?+
Short-term. Section 2(42A) defines a short-term capital asset as one held for not more than the threshold, so a holding of exactly 12 months is still short-term and the long-term rate needs more than 12 months. This catches people out constantly, and it is why the calculator names month 13 rather than month 12 as the point where the rate changes. The same logic applies to the 24-month assets: the change falls at month 25.
Why is a gold ETF taxed differently from a gold mutual fund?+
They are different assets in the Act even though they track the same metal. A gold ETF is listed and turns long-term after more than 12 months. A gold fund or fund-of-funds holds the ETF rather than the metal and turns long-term only after more than 24 months. Physical and digital gold also use the 24-month threshold. Holding the same rupee value of gold in the wrong wrapper for 18 months is the difference between 12.5% and your full slab rate.
Why does the fixed deposit result look worse than other calculators show?+
Because interest on a deposit is taxed every year as it accrues, not once at maturity. Most calculators apply the tax to the whole maturity interest in a single step, which quietly assumes the tax money stayed invested and compounded. It did not. Modelling annual taxation is the honest version, and over ten years at 7% on ₹10 lakh the difference runs to tens of thousands of rupees.
How does the ₹1.25 lakh exemption work?+
It is a single annual limit under Section 112A, shared across all your long-term equity gains in a financial year — direct shares and equity mutual funds combined, not one limit per fund. The calculator lets you enter how much you have already used so the answer reflects your real position rather than assuming the whole limit is free.
What happens to a crypto loss?+
Nothing useful. Section 115BBH allows a virtual digital asset loss to be set off against no income at all — not other income, and not even gains on other crypto — and it cannot be carried forward to a later year. The calculator flags this rather than showing a comfortable zero, because a computed tax of zero on a loss can read as though the loss is doing some work for you. It is not.
Does your income tax slab change the answer?+
For some assets only. Short-term gains on gold, and all interest on a fixed deposit, are added to your income and taxed at your slab, so a 30% taxpayer keeps much less than a 5% taxpayer. Long-term gains at 12.5%, equity short-term at 20% and crypto at 30% are statutory rates that do not move with your income. The calculator greys the slab field out when it makes no difference.
Which assets are not covered?+
Debt mutual funds, property, ULIPs, ESOPs, unlisted shares and international funds are deliberately excluded. Their treatment turns on the date you acquired the asset — the 1 April 2023 gate for debt funds, for instance — and a tool that does not ask for that date would give some users a confidently wrong answer. They are better handled once the acquisition date is part of the input.
Sources and references
- Capital gains rates, holding periods and the ₹1.25 lakh exemption (Sections 2(42A), 111A, 112 and 112A): Income Tax Department, Government of India
- Virtual digital asset taxation and the loss set-off bar (Section 115BBH): Income Tax Department
- Gold holding periods by format, including the gold ETF and gold fund split: ClearTax, gold and silver taxation
- Sovereign Gold Bond redemption and exemption terms: Reserve Bank of India
- Equity-oriented fund definition (the 65% equity threshold): SEBI
- Rules encoded as of 6 September 2026 for FY 2026-27 and FY 2025-26. Budget 2026 left capital gains rates, holding periods and the exemption unchanged.
Disclaimer: This calculator is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment or tax advice. Returns you enter are assumptions, not forecasts. Surcharge on total income above ₹50 lakh is not applied, and brokerage, STT, GST, exit loads and expense ratios are excluded. Debt funds, property, ULIPs, ESOPs, unlisted shares and international funds are not covered. Tax rules change; confirm your position with a qualified adviser before acting.
Related: Arbitrage fund vs FD · Old vs new tax regime · F&O turnover and tax