Moment guide · FY 2026-27

I am selling physical gold

What is the capital gains tax rate on gold after Budget 2024?

Physical gold held over 24 months gives long-term gains taxed at a flat 12.5% with no indexation after Finance Act 2024; gold held 24 months or less is short-term, taxed at your slab rate. Gold ETFs bought after 1 April 2023 are treated as debt funds and taxed at slab rates regardless of holding period, while inherited gold takes the ancestor's cost and holding period.

The #1 trap

Still using the old 20% with indexation numbers from pre-2024 articles — Finance Act 2024 removed indexation for all assets, so gold LTCG is now a flat 12.5%. The second trap: gold ETFs bought after 1 April 2023 are taxed like debt funds at slab rates, which is worse than the 12.5% on physical gold held long-term.

Geeta, who inherited gold coins and sold them in FY 2025-26

Geeta's grandmother bought 200 grams of gold coins in 2010 for ₹4,20,000 and bequeathed them to her in 2022. Geeta sells them in January 2026 for ₹12,00,000. Under section 49(1), the cost of acquisition is the grandmother's cost of ₹4,20,000 and the holding period starts from 2010, so the asset has been held far beyond 24 months and the gain is long-term. The capital gain is ₹12,00,000 minus ₹4,20,000, which is ₹7,80,000, and under the post-Finance Act 2024 rules the long-term capital gain is taxed at a flat 12.5% with no indexation, giving tax of ₹97,500 before surcharge and cess. Before 2024 the same gain would have been computed with indexation at 20%, which is the number most old articles still quote. Her brother holds a gold ETF bought in 2022, which he sells at a profit in 2026. Because his units were purchased before 1 April 2023 and held more than 24 months, his gain is long-term at 12.5%. Their cousin, however, bought a gold ETF in June 2023 and sold it in 2026 at a profit of ₹50,000 — that fund is treated as a debt mutual fund under the Finance Act 2023 rules, so the gain is taxed at his slab rate, not the 12.5% long-term rate. Geeta also sells digital gold worth ₹1,00,000 bought last year, and that gain is short-term at her slab rate because digital gold follows physical gold holding rules. Geeta reports both long-term and short-term gold gains in the capital gains schedule of her ITR. A quick call with us dials in the final figure. Geeta also verifies the sale invoice date against the 24-month line, because a sale one month before the two-year anniversary is short-term at her slab rate, which can be far worse than the 12.5% long-term rate. If she had bought additional gold in different years, she computes each lot separately with its own cost and holding period, since averaging the lots is not permitted. The jewellery's making charges are not part of the cost of acquisition for capital gains purposes unless they were paid at purchase, and she keeps the original purchase bills to establish the grandmother's cost. A quick call with us dials in the final figure.