The government on Sunday proposed an increase in the securities transaction tax (STT) on futures trading to 0.05% and on options trading to 0.15%, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced while presenting
the Union Budget 2026-27.
The current baseline rates on F&O trading are:
Futures: 0.02% on the sell side of the contract’s value. This has been increased to 0.05%.
Options: 0.1% on the sell side of the premium. It has been increased to 0.15%.
After the announcements, the stock market declined with the Nifty crashing by over 400 points to trade below 24,900 and the Sensex falling nearly 1,400 points to below 81,000.
Securities Transaction Tax (STT) is a direct tax imposed on the buying and selling of securities in India. It is levied on transactions executed through recognised stock exchanges and is collected by the government at the time of the trade.
The tax is applied to ensure transparency in securities transactions, simplify tax collection from market trades and bring capital market dealings within the formal tax framework.
(This is breaking. Details will be added shortly.)
