MUMBAI (Reuters) – The Indian government raised the tax rate for equity investments held for less than one year to 20% from 15% and for shares held for more than 12 months to 12.5% from 10%, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her budget speech on Tuesday.
The government also increased the tax on transactions in equity derivatives segment to 0.02% and 0.01%.
The Indian stock market declined after the announcements, which analysts said could have a negative impact on the markets in the short-term.
The tax hikes on futures and options are in line with the government’s concerns expressed in the economic survey and the markets regulator’s worries over the increase in speculative trading, said Sunil Gidwani, partner at tax firm Nangia Andersen.