F&O and Intraday Trading Costs in India (2026): STT, Charges and a Worked Example
Costs are the silent reason many intraday strategies fail. Each charge looks tiny, but an active options trader pays them on every order, and they come out of the result whether the trade wins or loses.
This guide lists the charges on an Indian F&O trade and works through an example.
The charges on every F&O trade
1. Brokerage. Most discount brokers charge a flat fee per executed order (commonly around ₹20), or a percentage, whichever is lower. Check your broker's current schedule.
2. Securities Transaction Tax (STT). Set by the government and raised in Budget 2026, effective 1 April 2026:
- Futures: 0.05% of turnover on the sell side (previously 0.02%)
- Options sold: 0.15% of the premium on the sell side (previously 0.10%)
- Options exercised: 0.15% of the intrinsic value (previously 0.125%)
3. Exchange transaction charges. Charged by NSE or BSE on turnover. For NSE index options this is roughly 0.035% of premium turnover; futures are far lower. Exchanges revise these, so confirm on your contract note.
4. SEBI turnover fee. ₹10 per crore of turnover.
5. Stamp duty. Charged on the buy side only: 0.003% for options and 0.002% for futures.
6. GST. 18% on brokerage, exchange transaction charges and the SEBI fee (not on STT or stamp duty).
7. Slippage (hidden cost). The difference between the price you expected and the price you got. It does not appear on the contract note but is often the largest cost for fast intraday options trades, especially near expiry or in thinly traded strikes.
Worked example: one NIFTY options round trip
Suppose you buy NIFTY options for a total premium of ₹10,000 and sell them later for ₹11,000 — a gross profit of ₹1,000.
- Brokerage: ₹20 × 2 orders = ₹40.00
- STT: 0.15% × ₹11,000 (sell) = ₹16.50
- Exchange charges: ~0.035% × ₹21,000 = ₹7.36
- SEBI fee: ₹10/crore × ₹21,000 = ₹0.02
- Stamp duty: 0.003% × ₹10,000 (buy) = ₹0.30
- GST: 18% × (40 + 7.36 + 0.02) = ₹8.53
- Total: ≈ ₹72.70
About 7% of the gross profit went in charges, before any slippage. On a losing trade the same charges make the loss bigger. A strategy that makes many small gains can see most of them disappear.
What this means for strategy design
- Fewer, better trades usually beat many small ones. Halving turnover can matter more than improving entries.
- Cheap options are expensive to trade. Fixed brokerage is a larger share of a small premium.
- Always backtest with costs and slippage. See how to backtest an intraday strategy.
- Track costs in your journal. Your contract note is the source of truth; compare it with what your model assumed.
Taxes on profits are separate
The charges above are transaction costs. Income tax on F&O profits is separate: for most individual traders F&O income is treated as non-speculative business income and taxed at slab rates, and an audit may apply above certain turnover thresholds. Consult a chartered accountant for your own situation.
Sources: Union Budget 2026-27 STT changes (effective 1 April 2026, per NSE circular NSE/FATAX/73524); broker and exchange charge schedules. Rates change — verify against your latest contract note.