Here is how you can calculate long term capital gains of your clients

In a frequently-asked-question series released today, the Central Board of Direct Tax (CBDT) has given four different scenarios to calculate long gains tax on mutual funds.

Let us look at the scenarios:

Scenario 1: Your client has bought an MF unit on November 15, 2016 at Rs.100, its fair market value is Rs.200 on January 31, 2018, and he has sold it on April 1, 2018 at Rs.250. As the actual cost of acquisition is less than the fair market value as on January 31, 2018, you will have to take the fair market value of Rs.200 as the cost of acquisition and the long-term capital gain will be Rs.50 (Rs. 250 – Rs.200).

Scenario 2: Again, your client has acquired an MF unit on November 15, 2016 at Rs.100, its fair market value is Rs.200 on January 31, 2018, and it is sold on April 1, 2018 at Rs.150. In this case, the actual cost of acquisition is less than the fair market value as on January 31, 2018. However, the sale value is also less than the fair market value as on January 31, 2018. In such a case, you will have to take the sale value of Rs.150 as the cost of acquisition and the long-term capital gain will be NIL (Rs. 150 – Rs. 150).

Scenario 3: An MF unit is acquired on November 15, 2016 at Rs.100, its fair market value is Rs.50 on January 31, 2018, and it is sold on April 1, 2018 at Rs.150. In this case, the fair market value as on January 31, 2018 is less than the actual cost of acquisition, and therefore, the actual cost of Rs.100 will be taken as actual cost of acquisition and the long-term capital gain will be Rs.50 (Rs. 150 – Rs. 100).

Scenario 4: An MF unit is acquired on November 15, 2016 at Rs.100, its fair market value is Rs 200 on January 31, 2018, and it is sold on April 1, 2018 at Rs.50. In this case, the actual cost of acquisition is less than the fair market value as on January 31, 2018. The sale value is less than the fair market value as on January 31, 2018 and the actual cost of acquisition. Therefore, the actual cost of Rs.100 will be taken as the cost of acquisition in this case. Hence, the long-term capital loss will be Rs.50 (Rs. 50 – Rs. 100) in this case.

Such a loss can be set-off against any other long-term capital gains and you can carry it forward to subsequent eight years for set-off against long-term capital gains.