Do I need to file ITR-3 if I made a loss in F&O?

Yes. F&O is business income, so the return is ITR-3. Filing on time is also what lets you carry the loss forward to later years.

Is F&O loss set off against salary?

No. A business loss can be set off against any income except salary. The rest is carried forward for up to 8 years against business income.

Can I claim STT as an expense?

When the income is business income, as with F&O and intraday, STT can be claimed as an expense along with brokerage and other charges.

Which tax year does this calculator use?

The slab rates of financial year 2025-26 (assessment year 2026-27), which Budget 2026 kept for tax year 2026-27 under the Income-tax Act 2025.

Is this calculator enough to file my return?

No. It is an estimate to plan with. Brought-forward losses, advance tax interest and audit questions need your full records, and a chartered accountant if your case is not simple.

F&O Tax Calculator: Turnover, Tax Audit and Tax on Trading

Enter the total of your winning trades and the total of your losing trades from your broker’s tax P&L report. Get turnover, the audit check, losses to carry forward and an estimate of tax.

How to use it

Download the tax P&L (or "tradewise P&L") report for the financial year from your broker.
For F&O, add up the profits of all winning trades and type the total in Total of winning trades. Add up the losses of all losing trades and type that total, as a positive number, in Total of losing trades. Do the same for intraday equity.
Add trading expenses you can claim, if your P&L does not already subtract them: brokerage and other charges, an internet bill share, a trading software subscription.
Add salary, interest and gains from shares you held for delivery. Pick the tax regime you will file under.

How trading income is taxed

What you traded	Type of income	Tax rate
Futures and options (shares, indices, commodities)	Non-speculative business income	Your slab rate
Intraday shares (bought and sold the same day)	Speculative business income	Your slab rate
Shares held for delivery, sold within 12 months	Short-term capital gain	20%
Shares held for more than 12 months	Long-term capital gain	12.5% above ₹1.25 lakh a year

Because F&O and intraday are business income, you file ITR-3, not ITR-1 or ITR-2, even if you only made a loss.

Turnover is not the value of your trades

For tax audit, trading turnover is the sum of the absolute profit or loss of each trade, as the ICAI Guidance Note on Tax Audit explains. Three trades with profits of ₹8,000 and ₹2,000 and a loss of ₹5,000 give a turnover of ₹15,000, not the lakhs of rupees of contract value. That is why the calculator asks for the two totals: their sum is your turnover.

Do you need a tax audit?

Turnover above ₹10 crore: yes.
Turnover between ₹1 crore and ₹10 crore: no, as long as cash receipts and cash payments are each within 5% of the total. Trading through a broker and a bank meets this.
Turnover up to ₹1 crore, with a loss or a profit under 6% of turnover, and total income above the basic exemption limit: an audit can apply, depending on whether you used presumptive taxation (section 44AD) in earlier years. The Income-tax Act 2025, in force from 1 April 2026, moved these rules to new sections, and commentators are still debating whether it changed who needs an audit. Ask a chartered accountant if this box shows a warning.

Losses

An F&O loss can reduce your other income in the same year, except salary. What is left can be carried forward for 8 years against business income, but only if you file your return by the due date. An intraday loss can only be set off against intraday profit, now or in the next 4 years.

Worked example

A salaried trader earns ₹15,00,000 in salary and has F&O trades with winning trades totalling ₹2,00,000 and losing trades totalling ₹5,00,000, plus ₹1,00,000 of bank interest. Turnover is ₹7,00,000, so no audit for turnover. The ₹3,00,000 F&O loss first wipes out the ₹1,00,000 of interest; it cannot touch salary, so ₹2,00,000 is carried forward. Tax under the new regime is on salary of ₹14,25,000 after the ₹75,000 standard deduction: ₹93,750 plus 4% cess, or ₹97,500.

Questions people ask

Do I need to file ITR-3 if I made a loss in F&O?: Yes. F&O is business income, so the return is ITR-3. Filing on time is also what lets you carry the loss forward to later years.
Is F&O loss set off against salary?: No. A business loss can be set off against any income except salary. The rest is carried forward for up to 8 years against business income.
Can I claim STT as an expense?: When the income is business income, as with F&O and intraday, STT can be claimed as an expense along with brokerage and other charges.
Which tax year does this calculator use?: The slab rates of financial year 2025-26 (assessment year 2026-27), which Budget 2026 kept for tax year 2026-27 under the Income-tax Act 2025.
Is this calculator enough to file my return?: No. It is an estimate to plan with. Brought-forward losses, advance tax interest and audit questions need your full records, and a chartered accountant if your case is not simple.

F&O and intraday tax calculator