STT hike clarified- Govt raises Securities Transaction Tax on options sale to 0

STT hike clarified: Govt raises Securities Transaction Tax on options sale to 0.062% from 0.05%; corrects typo

The Finance Ministry has clarified that it has raised Securities Transaction Tax on the sale of options to 0.062% from 0.05%, ET Now reported citing sources. This a 25% increase. An earlier version of Finance Bill passed in Lok Sabha today had incorrectly said that options sale STT was raied to Rs 2100 from Rs 1700 per Rs 1 crore turnover. This led to confusion in the market as traders discovered the existing STT is already levied at a higher rate of Rs 5000 per Rs 1 crore. On the options side, the STT is charged on the premium and not the strike price.

On the sale of futures contracts, the STT has been hiked to Rs 1,250 on Rs 1 crore of turnover against the earlier levy of Rs 1,000. The Finance bill 2023 with 64 official amendments was passed in Lok Sabha on Friday without discussion giving effect to tax proposals amid a ruckus by opposition members.

Additionally, the finance minister proposed setting up a committee to look into issues related to the pension for government employees and said that credit card payments for foreign tours are not being captured under LRS and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will look into the matter. Lok Sabha also cleared changes in the Finance Bill to pave the way for setting up an appellate tribunal for the resolution of disputes under GST.