Brokerage, STT, exchange charges, GST, SEBI fees, stamp duty and slippage — and how they change your break-even.
Key takeaways
- Costs scale with turnover, so frequency multiplies them.
- STT differs between intraday, delivery and derivatives.
- Slippage is usually the largest hidden cost for active traders.
Every round trip carries a stack of charges: brokerage, securities transaction tax, exchange transaction charges, GST on brokerage and exchange charges, a small regulatory fee, stamp duty on the buy side, and depository charges for delivery sales.
The rates differ by segment and by whether the trade is intraday, delivery or a derivative, and STT on option exercise deserves particular attention because it has caught out many traders holding in-the-money options into expiry.
The bigger cost, and the one nobody invoices you for, is slippage. The difference between the price you intended and the price you received is a real expense, and it grows with size, urgency and illiquidity.
Compute your all-in cost per round trip once, in rupees, for the instrument you actually trade. Then compare it to your average gross gain. Strategies with a thin edge often turn out to be a transfer mechanism from you to the ecosystem.
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