Capital Gains versus Capital Receipts
Capital gain refers to the gain or profit from the sale of property or an investment. Investment may be in shares, equity, gold, real estate or valuables like paintings {a prelims question was asked if investment in paintings is a capital gains tax} etc.
Difference between Capital Gains and Capital Receipts
Though they sound alike, capital gains and capital receipts are different animals and are treated differently. Capital receipt is the amount which is received from sale of capital i.e. assets, shares, debentures, land, factory, machines etc. This is different from revenue receipts which are generated by selling products and services. On the other hand, capital gains is profit made on sale of capital assets. Thus, if you make profit while selling shares, you have a capital gain.
Tax policy on Capital Gains
The general rule under the income tax act is that while revenue receipts are taxable, capital receipts are exempted from tax unless there is specific provision of taxation on it. This is the reason that gifts and loans don’t attract taxes. But there is nothing which can stop the government to impose taxes on capital receipts also, for example the Vodafone matter.
Capital gains are profit and are taxable. Gain here means the difference of price of asset/share when purchased and when sold. The tax is levied on that gain.
Current Government Policy on Capital Gains Tax
Capital Gains tax is of two kind viz. Short term and long term. There was a 15% tax on short term capital gains, the long term capital gains were not taxed. This implied that if a stock traded on an exchange is held for more than a year, gains from it are exempt from capital gains tax. On the other hand, if a trader books profit in a stock held for less than a year, he has to pay short-term capital gains tax of 15%.
In the Union Budget 2018-19, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley re-introduced LTCG tax on stocks. Now, the investors will have to pay 10 per cent tax on profit exceeding Rs 1 lakh made from the sale of shares or equity mutual fund schemes held for over one year. The definition of a long-term investor in stocks for tax purposes is one year.
