About the Tax Harvesting Calculator
What is the Tax Harvesting Calculator?
Long-term capital gains (LTCG) on listed equity shares and equity mutual funds held for more than 12 months are tax-free up to ₹1.25 lakh in each financial year; gains above that are taxed at 12.5%. Tax gain harvesting means selling and immediately reinvesting just enough units each year to book gains up to that limit, which resets your purchase cost higher without paying tax.
Enter your unrealised long-term gains and any LTCG already booked this year. The calculator shows how much gain you can harvest tax-free and the future tax you avoid (including the 4% cess).
How to use the Tax Harvesting Calculator
- Unrealised Long-Term Gains on Equity (₹) — gains on units held for more than 12 months only. (sample: 3,00,000)
- LTCG Already Booked This Financial Year (₹) (sample: 50,000)
- Annual LTCG Exemption (₹) (sample: 1,25,000)
- LTCG Tax Rate (%) (sample: 12.5)
- Press Calculate Tax Harvesting (results also refresh as you type). The result card shows the Gains to Harvest This Year, along with Future tax saved (incl. 4% cess), Unused exemption before harvesting, Gains still unrealised after harvesting and Tax on booked gains so far.
Formula used
Gains to harvest = min(Unrealised LTCG, ₹1,25,000 − LTCG already booked)
- Future tax saved = Gains harvested × 12.5% × 1.04
The exemption is per financial year and cannot be carried forward, so unused exemption is lost on 31 March.
Worked example
These are the sample values already filled in the calculator above, and the result it returns for them:
| Input | Sample value |
|---|---|
| Unrealised Long-Term Gains on Equity (₹) | 3,00,000 |
| LTCG Already Booked This Financial Year (₹) | 50,000 |
| Annual LTCG Exemption (₹) | 1,25,000 |
| LTCG Tax Rate (%) | 12.5 |
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Gains to Harvest This Year | ₹75,000 |
| Future tax saved (incl. 4% cess) | ₹9,750 |
| Unused exemption before harvesting | ₹75,000 |
| Gains still unrealised after harvesting | ₹2,25,000 |
| Tax on booked gains so far | ₹0 |
Tips for using the Tax Harvesting Calculator
- Sell and buy back on the same or next day; there is no wash-sale rule in India, but the new units start a fresh 12-month holding period.
- Harvest before 31 March each year.
- Also consider tax-loss harvesting: booking losses to offset gains, carried forward for up to 8 years.