Mutual Fund Corner: Understanding capital gains tax on mutual funds

In this episode of ‘Mutual Fund Corner’, Mrin Agarwal, Financial Educator & Director at Finsafe India will discuss capital gains on mutual funds and also talk about the pros and cons of investing via the SIP route against a lump sum investment.

Agarwal said there is a different set of taxation for different asset classes held under mutual funds. She said, “On the equity funds equity, funds which have more than 65 percent invested in equities, classified as equity funds, and for those, if you exit below a year, it is treated as short-term capital gains and taxed at 15 percent and if you exit after a year, then you are taxed at 10 percent long term capital gains post a gain of Rs 1 lakh. So that's on the equity side.”

On the debt side, taxation is different. She said, “To qualify for long-term capital gains, you need to hold the debt fund for three years and if you exit before three years, it is qualified as short-term capital gains and it is taxable at slab so whatever the slab rate that the investor comes under, it is taxed like that.”