Introduction to Capital Gains Tax on Different Asset Classes

A practical, India-specific guide to how capital gains are taxed across every asset class an ordinary investor is likely to own, built for salaried professionals, first-time taxpayers and anyone starting their financial planning. Understand what a capital asset is, how holding periods decide whether a gain is short-term or long-term and how to compute a gain from sale value, cost and expenses under the Income-tax Act, 2025. Work through listed shares, equity mutual funds, ETFs and SIPs, grandfathering for pre-2018 holdings and the tax effect of bonuses, splits and buybacks. Learn how debt funds, bonds and every form of gold are taxed, then move on to property, unlisted shares and ESOPs, US stocks and crypto. Cut your tax legally with loss set-off, tax-loss harvesting, reinvestment exemptions and the basic exemption limit, then report it all correctly in your ITR using your broker P&L and CAS. Finish with the mistakes that trigger notices and a case study of one salaried investor's gains across five asset classes.