The rates that apply to you
Equity delivery: 0.1% on both buy and sell. Intraday: 0.025% on the sell leg. Futures: 0.02% on the sell leg. Options: 0.1% of the premium on the sell leg. These are the published rates confirmed against broker pricing pages in August 2026. Mutual fund purchases and IPO applications carry no STT.
Why it is bigger than brokerage
On a ₹50,000 delivery buy, STT is ₹50 while Upstox brokerage is ₹20. On a large delivery trade, STT is the single biggest line item on the contract note. New investors treat brokerage as the whole cost; the statutory block usually is the whole cost.
Can you claim it back?
STT paid on delivery shares adds to your cost of acquisition, which reduces capital gains when you sell. Traders cannot claim business-expense treatment on STT in the same way since the 2008 rule change. For the kind of long-term investing this site explains, the practical effect is small; your CA handles it at filing time.
How STT appears on the contract note
Every executed order prints an STT line with its own rate column. On a delivery buy, the note shows 0.1% of the trade value; on a delivery sell, another 0.1%; on an intraday sell, 0.025%. The totals section at the bottom of the contract note sums STT across legs, and the same figure flows into your ledger. Because STT is set in the Finance Act, not by the broker, the rate column on every broker’s contract note is identical for the same segment, which makes it the easiest line to audit.
STT and your capital gains
For delivery shares held as investments, STT paid on the buy adds to your cost of acquisition and STT paid on the sell reduces your sale proceeds, which lowers the taxable gain. For intraday and F&O, the 2008 amendment to the Income Tax Act removed the treatment of STT as a deductible business expense for non-corporate assessees; the income is taxed as business income with STT already folded into the transaction. Your CA applies these rules at filing time; the statements from the broker supply the numbers.
A concrete example
You buy ₹1,00,000 of a share for delivery and sell it later for ₹1,20,000. STT is ₹100 on the buy and ₹120 on the sell, ₹220 in total. Brokerage at ₹20 per side is ₹40. The tax is five times the broker’s fee.
The numbers to remember
0.1%
STT on equity delivery, both sides
0.025%
STT on intraday, sell side only
0.1% of premium
STT on options, sell side
Questions people ask about STT (Securities Transaction Tax)
The exchange collects STT through your broker at the moment of trade and passes it to the government. It is not a broker fee, cannot be negotiated, and appears on every contract note with its own line.
No. Mutual fund purchase and redemption transactions and IPO applications carry no STT. STT applies to exchange-traded instruments: equity delivery, intraday, futures and options.
Yes. STT applies to every transaction in Indian securities regardless of the account holder’s residential status. The rates in the Finance Act do not distinguish between residents and non-residents.
No. STT is a tax under the Finance Act, and GST applies only to the chargeable items: brokerage, transaction charges, DP charges and similar fees. STT and stamp duty sit outside the GST calculation.
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