Tax
Gold: twelve months for ETFs, twenty-four for the rest
Listed units use the short test, jewellery and funds the long one — and 12.5% replaces indexation everywhere.
Gold is taxed by form: listed gold ETF units get the twelve-month listed test, while gold fund units, coins, jewellery and digital-gold balances use the twenty-four-month test the 2024 changes set for gold. Since 23 July 2024 the long-term rate is a uniform 12.5% without indexation for all of them, and STCG on gold is at slab. Jewellery is worth singling out: it is expressly excluded from the personal-effects exemption, so there is no 'it was my wedding set' defence.
Rates on this page
| Asset | Long-term after | Short-term | Long-term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold ETFs (listed) | 12 months | Your slab | 12.5% |
| Gold funds, jewellery, digital gold | 24 months | Your slab | 12.5% |
Which holding period applies to which form of gold
Listed gold ETF units are listed securities, so twelve months makes them long-term. Gold fund-of-fund units, sovereign bonds bought on the secondary market, coins, bars, jewellery and digital-gold balances are other assets: twenty-four months. Before 23 July 2024 that second test was thirty-six months, and the CBDT's own FAQ recorded the reduction — worth knowing when you look at an older statement or an old article.
The rate: 12.5% long-term, slab short-term
Long-term gold gains pay 12.5% without indexation; indexation was removed for transfers on or after 23 July 2024, which is a material change for a held-for-a-decade ornament whose gain is mostly inflation. Short-term gold gains — an ETF sold inside twelve months, jewellery sold inside twenty-four — are added to your income and taxed at your slab. Gold is not an STT-paid equity asset, so the ₹1,25,000 exemption does not apply to any form of it.
GST and making charges sit on the input side
3% GST applies to gold metal, 5% to making charges billed separately, and 3% to the whole bill where a jeweller quotes one composite price for ready-made jewellery. Those costs are not tax deductions — they are part of your cost base, which is exactly why they matter: the gain you eventually pay 12.5% on is smaller when the invoice separates metal from labour, and larger when it does not.
Derivatives are income, not capital gains
Gold futures and options are exchange-traded derivatives and are generally treated as business income at slab rates rather than capital gains — a different head, different reporting and no long-term rate at all. Digital gold is the mirror image of that uncertainty: it is treated as a transfer of gold, so the platform's structure (sale of metal versus a balance) decides the paperwork. Both deserve your adviser's eye before the trade, not after.
Work out the tax on a gold sale →
Questions on gold
I sold an old gold necklace after eight years. What tax applies?
Long-term capital gains: past twenty-four months, gold jewellery is taxed at 12.5% without indexation. Jewellery is expressly carved out of the personal-effects exclusion, so the gain is taxable; your cost is the original purchase price, not today's metal rate, and making charges and GST you paid form part of that cost.
Do gold ETFs get indexation if I have held them for years?
No. Indexation was removed for transfers on or after 23 July 2024 — the cost of acquisition is deducted as it stands. The trade-off in the 2024 change was a lower headline rate (12.5% against 20% with indexation), which helps most holders but can lose for a very old, inflation-heavy holding.
Is digital gold taxed like a gold ETF?
Not necessarily. Digital gold is a transfer of gold, and the platform's structure decides whether you are selling metal or a balance — which affects the paperwork and the head of income. The ETF's listed-unit test is specific to listed ETF units. Confirm the treatment from the platform's invoice and your adviser rather than assuming they match.
Sources
Reviewed 25 Sept 2026. Tax rates are set by statute and change with the annual Finance Act, so the Income Tax Department’s own pages are the authority — every claim here links to one, with the snapshot date noted where the department’s site refused an automated read.
- Income Tax Department — Capital Gain (Tax Guide)Two holding periods since 23 Jul 2024 (12 months listed securities, 24 months other assets); section 111A short-term rate of 20% on STT-paid equity shares, equity-oriented funds and business-trust units; section 112A long-term rate of 12.5% on the same assets above ₹1,25,000; the uniform 12.5% long-term rate without indexation; the deemed short-term list (depreciable assets, market-linked debentures, specified mutual funds, unlisted bonds and unlisted debentures).Read: Internet Archive snapshot of 14 May 2026 (the department's live pages return 403 to this host).
- CBDT — FAQs on the new capital-gains regime (via PIB, 24 Jul 2024, PRID 2036604)Effective 23 Jul 2024; the two holding periods; gold's long-term test reduced from 36 to 24 months; STT-paid listed-equity short-term rate raised from 15% to 20% and the long-term rate from 10% to 12.5%; the section 112A exemption raised from ₹1 lakh to ₹1,25,000 from FY 2024-25 onwards; other long-term gains at 12.5% without indexation; rollover benefits unchanged (section 54EC bonds up to ₹50 lakh).Read: Live fetch, 25 Sep 2026.
- CBIC — GST rates on gold and making charges (as cited in the Gold Hub)3% GST on gold metal, 5% on separately-billed making charges and 3% on a composite jewellery bill — the input side of gold's tax picture.Read: Verified for the Gold Hub (LETSINVEST-106) and reused here.