Intraday trading charges in India — what eats your profit?
On a typical intraday trade, multiple charges are deducted before you see your actual net profit. Understanding these is crucial for scalpers who take many small positions where charges can easily exceed the gross profit:
STT (Securities Transaction Tax) on intraday equity is 0.025% on the sell-side turnover — this is the largest single charge for most intraday traders, levied directly by the government and non-negotiable regardless of broker.
Brokerage is the broker's fee — typically ₹15–₹20 per executed order for discount brokers. On a ₹10,000 trade, even ₹20 brokerage is 0.2% per leg, so the minimum trade size to make brokerage a small fraction of your P&L needs to be meaningful.
Exchange transaction charges (NSE/BSE fees) are around 0.00307% of turnover — small but present on every trade.
Use this calculator to see the exact charge composition for each trade and across your full trading day.