Knowledge Base

What is STT?

Securities Transaction Tax is a tax levied on the purchase and sale of securities traded on recognised stock exchanges in India. It is charged on the transaction value

How is STT Charged?

STT is calculated as a percentage of the trade value and is applied on:

• Futures — on the sale side of the transaction
• Options (Premium) — on the sale of the option contract
• Options (Exercised) — on the intrinsic value at the time of exercise

What Has Changed? (Effective April 1, 2026)

Instrument	Old Rate	New Rate
Futures (Sale)	0.02%	0.05%
Options – Premium (Sale)	0.10%	0.15%
Options – Exercised (Intrinsic Value)	0.125%	0.15%

A Quick Example

Futures (Sale)

Say you sell 1 lot of Nifty Futures worth ₹5,00,000:

Tax	Old STT (0.02%)	New STT (0.05%)
STT Payable	₹100	₹250

That’s ₹150 extra per lot, per trade will be directly deducted from your trading account.

Options – Premium (Sale)

Nifty Call Option — 1 lot = 75 units, assume premium at ₹150 Premium Value = 75 × ₹150 = ₹11,250

	Old STT (0.10%)	New STT (0.15%)
STT Payable	₹11.25	₹16.88

Extra cost per lot: ₹5.63

Options – Exercised (Intrinsic Value)

Nifty Option exercised – assume intrinsic value of ₹200 per unit Intrinsic Value = 75 × ₹200 = ₹15,000

	Old STT (0.125%)	New STT (0.15%)
STT Payable	₹18.75	₹22.50

Extra cost per lot: ₹3.75