Speculative income (intraday tax)

Profit from buying and selling the same shares on the same day is speculative business income under Indian tax law. It is added to your other income and taxed at your slab rate, and you report it in ITR-3. Intraday losses can only be set off against speculative profit.

Unused speculative losses can be carried forward for four years, against speculative profit only. Because this is business income, expenses such as STT and brokerage are deductible, and you may need to keep books or get an audit above certain turnover levels.