Reviewed by Finin2min Editorial Desk · Last reviewed 11 August 2026
Estimate tax saved by setting off short-term and long-term capital losses against taxable gains using editable rates.
Gains and losses
Tax before harvesting
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Estimated tax saving
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Tax after harvesting
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Unused ST/LT losses
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Calculation guidance will appear here.
How This Is Calculated
Tax-loss harvesting realizes a loss on an underperforming investment (by selling it) to offset gains elsewhere, reducing overall capital gains tax for the year — short-term losses can offset both short-term and long-term gains, while long-term losses can only offset long-term gains, so the type of loss and gain both matter for how much tax is actually saved.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sell a losing investment and immediately buy it back for tax purposes?
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While Indian tax law doesn't have a formal "wash sale" rule like some other countries for most securities, immediately repurchasing the same security shortly after selling for a loss can attract scrutiny in some contexts — check current guidance and consider a genuine holding-period gap or a similar (not identical) alternative investment.
Can short-term losses offset long-term capital gains?
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Yes. Short-term capital losses can be set off against both short-term and long-term capital gains. Long-term capital losses, however, can only be set off against long-term capital gains — not short-term gains.
What happens to a loss that can't be fully used this year?
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Unused capital losses can generally be carried forward for up to 8 assessment years, to be set off against capital gains in those future years, provided the return for the loss year was filed by the due date.
Source and review trail
Use the current official instrument, portal or regulator publication before acting. This panel separates the category authority from page-specific references.
Scope: Estimates the tax saving achievable by realising capital losses (selling loss-making investments) to offset capital gains, subject to the set-off rules under Sections 70/74.
Calculation logic
Compute the current unrealised loss on holdings the user is considering selling (Current market value − Cost of acquisition, for each identified holding).
Apply the set-off rules: short-term capital loss can be set off against both short-term and long-term capital gains in the same year; long-term capital loss can only be set off against long-term capital gains — the calculator matches losses to gains per this hierarchy.
Tax saved = the tax that would otherwise have been payable on the offset gain amount, at the applicable STCG/LTCG rate, minus any transaction costs (brokerage, STT) the user enters for the harvesting trades.
Inputs and assumptions
This is a planning estimate based on current market values entered by the user, not a live market-data feed — actual realised loss depends on the price at the time of the actual sale transaction.
Where the same or a substantially similar security is repurchased shortly after the loss-harvesting sale, tax authorities in some jurisdictions apply a 'wash sale' rule disallowing the loss; Indian tax law does not currently have a codified wash-sale rule of this kind for individual investors, so the calculator does not apply one — but repurchase intent should still be considered from a genuine-transaction standpoint.
Exclusions and edge cases
Does not itself execute any trades — this is a planning/estimation tool only.
Grandfathering (for equity LTCG as of 31 January 2018) affects the cost-of-acquisition figure used in the underlying gain/loss computation — the calculator applies the grandfathered cost where the holding qualifies, consistent with the Capital Gains Tax calculator's methodology.