← Learn · Costs

The real cost of a trade: STT, exchange charges, stamp duty and GST

Beginner · 6 min read

Every trade on an Indian exchange pays the same statutory charges, whatever the broker. They are small per trade and large per year, especially for frequent traders.

The lines on a contract note

• Brokerage — the broker's fee. Discount brokers commonly charge a flat ₹20 per order (or 0.03%, whichever is lower) for intraday and F&O.
• STT (Securities Transaction Tax) — the largest statutory charge. On delivery it is 0.1% on both buy and sell; on intraday 0.025% of the sell; on futures 0.05% of the sell; on options 0.15% of the premium sold.
• Exchange transaction charges — NSE's fee on turnover, much higher on option premium than on shares.
• SEBI turnover fee — ₹10 per crore.
• Stamp duty — on the buy side only.
• GST — 18% on brokerage, exchange charges and the SEBI fee (not on STT or stamp duty).
• DP charge — a flat fee per stock sold from your demat account.

Rates as of October 2026; they change with budgets and exchange circulars, and the charges calculator shows the current table.

When costs decide the result

Costs are a fixed toll per trade. A strategy that aims for small moves trades often and pays the toll every time: a scalp that targets a few rupees on an option premium can find that charges and slippage take most of the gross profit. Before trusting any backtest, ask whether it charged realistic costs — ours do.

Next: Options in plain words: calls, puts, premium and expiry →