Tax Harvesting Calculator – LTCG Gain and Loss Harvesting (India)

Tax harvesting calculator for Indian shares and equity funds

Long-term gains on listed shares and equity mutual funds are tax-free up to ₹1.25 lakh in each financial year, and the unused part of that limit is lost on 31 March. Tax gain harvesting means selling just enough long-term units to book gains up to the limit and buying them back, so the cost of those units rises and that much gain is never taxed. This LTCG tax harvesting calculator tells you how many units to sell.

It also works as a tax loss harvesting calculator for India: enter the gains you have booked and the losses you could book, and it applies the set-off rules — a short-term loss against any capital gain, a long-term loss only against long-term gains — to show the tax before and after and what carries forward. Everything runs in your browser; it is an informational estimate, not tax or investment advice.

How to use the Tax Harvesting Calculator

1. Enter the current price or NAV, your average cost per unit and the long-term units you hold (held more than 12 months).
2. Add any long-term gains already booked this year from other shares or funds.
3. Read how many units to sell; tick or untick whole units for shares or fractional fund units.
4. For loss harvesting, enter this year’s booked gains, the losses you could book and any losses brought forward.
5. Compare the tax with and without harvesting, and note what carries forward.

Tax Harvesting Calculator features

How LTCG tax harvesting works

Units to sell = (₹1,25,000 − long-term gains already booked) ÷ (price − cost per unit). With a NAV of ₹150, a cost of ₹100 and nothing booked yet, each unit carries ₹50 of gain, so selling 2,500 units books ₹1,25,000 of gain at no tax. Buying back at ₹150 resets their cost, so if you later sell in a year whose limit is already used, you avoid 12.5% plus cess on that ₹1,25,000 — ₹16,250.

Two points matter. The repurchased units start a new 12-month holding period, so selling them within a year gives a short-term gain at 20%. And costs — exit load, securities transaction tax, stamp duty on the purchase and brokerage — reduce the benefit; check them before you trade. The Income-tax Act has no wash-sale rule like the one in the US, but do the sale and repurchase as genuine trades.

Loss harvesting and set-off rules in India

• Short-term capital loss can be set off against short-term or long-term gains (s.70; s.108 of the 2025 Act). Using it against 20% short-term gains first saves the most.
• Long-term capital loss can be set off only against long-term gains — never against short-term gains or salary.
• Unabsorbed losses carry forward for 8 years (s.74; s.111 of the 2025 Act), but only if the return is filed by the due date.
• Example: ₹2 lakh short-term and ₹3 lakh long-term gains cost ₹64,350 in tax. Booking a ₹50,000 short-term loss and an ₹80,000 long-term loss cuts it to ₹43,550 — a saving of ₹20,800.

If you invest in the US

The IRS rules differ: net capital losses beyond your gains reduce other income by up to $3,000 a year ($1,500 if married filing separately), with the rest carried forward (IRS Topic 409, reviewed 24 Sep 2026). A loss is disallowed under the wash-sale rule if you buy substantially identical stock or securities within 30 days before or after the sale (IRS Publication 550, 2025). This calculator does not compute US tax.