STT hike on futures and options takes effect from today — Here's all you need to know

The hike in the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) announced during the Union Budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, will take effect from today, April 1.

As per the announcements made, the STT on equity options premium has been raised to 0.15% from 0.1% earlier.

Additionally, the STT on equity futures has been raised to 0.05% from 0.02% earlier, while the STT on equity options exercise has been raised to 0.15% from 0.125% earlier.

The announcement made during the Union Budget had triggered a sharp sell-off on Dalal Street, wiping out nearly ₹10 lakh crore in market capitalization of BSE-listed companies.

Here's how it works

The Nifty closed at 22,331 on Monday. Let us assume a closing level of 22,300 for the Nifty.

Currently, one Nifty futures lot is worth 65 shares. This takes the total transaction cost for one lot to ₹14.5 lakh.

At 0.02%, the STT paid on one lot of Nifty futures would be ₹289.9. Starting today, that levy has been raised to 0.05%, which means, the STT paid on one lot of Nifty futures will increase to ₹724.75, an increase of over ₹400 from the previous levy.

Companies On Your Radar

As of financial year 2025, Angel One acquired 44% of its total revenue from the Futures & Options (F&O) segment, while that number increased to 55% for BSE.

For the yet-to-be-listed National Stock Exchange (NSE), that number stands at 70%.

According to a Mint report, the Association of NSE Members of India (ANMI) intends to ask the government to defer the increase in STT on futures and options. The plan comes after the Reserve Bank of India postponed the implementation of rules on bank funding of capital market intermediaries amidst the Iran war.

The US-Iran war in West Asia, which has now entered its fifth week, has wiped out nearly ₹50 lakh crore in market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies during the month of March, when the Nifty 50 index saw its worst point drop on record in an F&O series.