Issue of taxability of surplus on sale of shares and securities - Capital Gains or Business Income - Instructions in order to reduce litigation

Characterisation of share sale proceeds: capital gain or business income depends on holding and taxpayer election.

For listed shares and securities, where an assessee elects to treat holdings as stock-in-trade, transfers will be treated as business income regardless of holding period; where such listed shares and securities are held for more than twelve months and the assessee elects capital treatment, the Assessing Officer shall accept capital gains and the election must be consistently applied in subsequent years. Other cases remain fact-specific under existing CBDT guidance, and transactions of questionable genuineness are excluded.