Lesson 3 of 3 · 6 min
What a trade actually costs
Brokerage, STT, GST and stamp duty are small slices taken out of every single trade, which is why the number on your screen is not the number you keep.
Every trade carries small charges, taken automatically. Individually they look tiny. They matter for one reason: they are charged every time you trade, so frequent trading multiplies them while the market owes you nothing in return.
Charges on a delivery trade in shares
- Brokerage
- Set by your broker
- Securities transaction tax (STT)
- 0.1%
- Stamp duty
- 0.015%
- GST
- 18%
Many discount brokers charge zero for delivery; others charge per order or a percentage. Check your broker's schedule of charges.
On the trade value, on both buy and sell, for delivery trades in shares.
On the buy side of a delivery trade. Collected centrally since 2020, same rate across states.
Charged on the brokerage and on exchange transaction charges — not on the trade value itself.
Your turn
You buy shares worth ₹10,000 as delivery. STT at 0.1% is how many rupees?
Myth
“My broker charges zero brokerage, so trading is free.”
False
Zero brokerage removes exactly one line from the bill. STT, stamp duty, exchange transaction charges, GST on those charges, and depository charges when you sell all still apply — none of them are set by the broker. The contract note after any trade lists every one of them.
Work it out yourself
Try a sale with your own numbers — purchase price, sale price, holding period — and see what the tax rules leave you with.
Capital Gains Tax CalculatorJust for you
Before this lesson, did you think of buying a share as buying a business or as placing a bet? Has that changed?
This stays in your browser and is never sent anywhere — not to us, not to anyone. It disappears when you leave the page.
Match them up
Five lines off a contract note
Pick a term, then pick what it actually means.
Pick a term on the left.
Check yourself
1 / 3
Kabir asks
Your broker advertises zero brokerage on delivery trades. What still comes out of the trade?
Done reading?
Saved in this browser — and finishes the course.