Does the LTCG exemption carry forward to next year if I don't use it?

No. The ₹1,25,000 equity LTCG exemption is a use-it-or-lose-it allowance for each financial year (April to March). Any unused portion does not carry forward — it simply resets to ₹1,25,000 on April 1, meaning any harvestable gain left unrealized in a year with unused headroom is a permanently lost tax-free opportunity.

Do I have to sell my mutual fund units permanently to harvest LTCG?

No — a common strategy is to sell the units to book the gain tax-free, then immediately reinvest the proceeds back into the same or a similar fund. This resets your purchase cost (NAV) to the current, higher price, which reduces future taxable gains when you eventually sell for real, while your money stays invested throughout.

What holding period counts as 'long-term' for equity mutual funds in India?

Equity mutual funds (and equity-oriented hybrid funds with >65% equity allocation) held for more than 12 months qualify for long-term capital gains treatment. Units held 12 months or less are taxed as short-term capital gains (STCG) at 20%, with no exemption available.

Is this exemption available per person or per fund?

The ₹1,25,000 LTCG exemption applies per individual taxpayer across all equity mutual funds and listed shares combined for the financial year — not per fund and not per fund house. If you hold multiple equity funds, all your long-term gains across all of them count toward the same single exemption limit.

Tax Planning

LTCG Harvesting Calculator

Calculate how much long-term capital gains tax you can save by harvesting your ₹1.25 lakh annual equity LTCG exemption. Free tool for Indian mutual fund investors.

What is LTCG Harvesting Calculator?

LTCG (Long-Term Capital Gains) harvesting is the practice of deliberately selling equity mutual fund units that have crossed 12 months of holding, up to your unused ₹1,25,000 annual LTCG exemption limit — paying zero tax on those gains — and then (if desired) reinvesting the proceeds to reset your purchase cost at the higher price. Since the exemption resets every financial year and doesn't carry forward, gains left unharvested in a year where you had headroom are a permanent, unrecoverable loss of a tax-free allowance. This calculator shows how much of your ₹1.25 lakh exemption is still unused and how much tax you'd save by harvesting up to that limit before March 31.

How to use this tool

Enter any equity LTCG you've already booked (sold and realized) this financial year.

Enter the unrealized long-term gain currently sitting in funds you've held over 12 months.

The calculator shows your remaining exemption headroom and how much you can harvest tax-free.

The Formula

Exemption Remaining = ₹1,25,000 − LTCG already booked this FY
Harvestable Gain = min(Unrealized LTCG available, Exemption Remaining)
Tax Saved = Harvestable Gain × 12.5%

(12.5% is the current equity LTCG tax rate above the exemption, per the 2024 Budget.)

Key Benefits

✓Understand India's ₹1.25 lakh annual equity LTCG exemption — a use-it-or-lose-it allowance that resets every April.
✓Estimate the tax saved by harvesting gains before the financial year closes.
✓Avoid the common mistake of realizing zero LTCG in a year, wasting the entire exemption.
✓Free, instant, no login required for a manual estimate.

Practical Example

LTCG already booked this FY: ₹40,000 Unrealized long-term gain available: ₹1,50,000 - Exemption Remaining: ₹85,000 - You Can Harvest: ₹85,000 - Tax Saved: ₹10,625 Selling ₹85,000 worth of long-term gains (and optionally reinvesting) locks in this saving before the exemption resets to zero on April 1.

Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

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