Brokerage Charges in India 2026: STT, GST, Stamp Duty & Net P&L

What a trade actually costs

Your trading cost is more than the broker’s headline brokerage. A contract note can include brokerage, Securities Transaction Tax (STT), exchange transaction charges, SEBI/regulatory charges, GST and stamp duty. From 1 April 2026, NSE’s official STT circular shows equity-delivery STT remains 0.1% on both purchase and sale, while derivatives STT rates changed. Always calculate net P&L from the contract-note cash flows, not from price movement alone.

Before you trust the app P&L

• “₹0 brokerage” does not mean zero transaction cost.
• Equity-delivery STT remains 0.1% on buy and 0.1% on sell under the cited 2026 schedule.
• Futures/options STT changed from 1 April 2026.
• GST applies to specified service/charge components, not simply the trade value.
• Stamp duty is generally collected on the buy side under the uniform framework, with rate depending on instrument.

The contract-note stack

The 1 April 2026 STT change

NSE’s circular effective 1 April 2026 keeps delivery-equity STT at 0.1% on purchase and 0.1% on sale. It also shows revised derivatives rates—for example, sale of options at 0.15% and futures at 0.05% under the cited schedule. Because derivatives rules can change and bases differ, do not use one “STT percentage” for every trade.

Current statutory rates are segment-specific

NSE's current investor levy page and its 2026 STT schedule show why one generic “transaction tax” percentage is unsafe. For qualifying equity delivery transactions, STT is 0.1% on purchase and 0.1% on sale. For non-delivery equity, the cited STT rate is 0.025% on the sell side. From 1 April 2026, specified derivatives rates include 0.15% on sale of options and 0.05% on sale of futures, with the taxable base depending on the transaction type.

The same NSE reference lists uniform stamp-duty rates such as 0.015% on delivery equity purchases and 0.003% on non-delivery equity purchases, and states GST on stock-broker services at 18%. These figures still do not replace your contract note because broker pricing, exchange segment, DP charges and rounding can differ.

Net P&L workflow

Start with sale proceeds minus purchase cost. Then subtract all buy-side and sell-side charges. If you are measuring investment return, also account for cash dividends and other cash flows where relevant. For tax P&L, use the tax rules and broker reports appropriate to the instrument; a trading-app green number is not a tax return.

Why small trades feel expensive

Several charges are turnover-based or have minimum/order structures. On tiny trades, fixed/minimum brokerage or taxes can be a larger percentage of the expected profit. Before frequent trading, model the round-trip cost and the price move needed merely to break even.

Reconcile from the contract note, not the price chart

For an actual trade, start with buy and sell consideration and then account for brokerage, STT, exchange transaction charges, GST, SEBI charges and stamp duty as applicable. The broker contract note is the best reconciliation document. A gross trading profit can become a much smaller net profit when turnover is high relative to the price move.

Where trading-cost estimates go wrong

• Calculating profit from the price difference while omitting statutory and exchange charges.
• Applying an equity-delivery STT rate to a futures or options trade.
• Averaging purchase prices without weighting them by quantity.
• Treating estimated charges in an app as the final record instead of reconciling the contract note.
• Ignoring turnover when a strategy depends on many small price moves.

Turnover can matter more than trade count

Charges such as STT and exchange levies are tied to transaction value and trade type, so a high-turnover strategy can incur meaningful friction even when per-order brokerage looks small. Reconcile costs on the actual buy and sell values, and distinguish delivery trades from intraday or derivatives because the charge structure is not identical.

A three-step reconciliation is safer than trusting a headline P&L

1. Recreate gross consideration from executed quantity and prices.
2. Reconcile each levy and broker charge against the contract note, using the correct segment and transaction side.
3. Calculate net P&L only after those cash flows are included; then use ROI or XIRR if you need a return percentage.

This also makes the calculator auditable: if the estimate and contract note differ, the difference can be traced to a specific rate, broker tariff, DP charge or rounding convention rather than disappearing inside a single “fees” number.

Estimate a complete round trip

Frequently asked questions