Capital gains tax applies to the profit on sale of a capital asset — residential or commercial property, listed or unlisted shares, mutual funds, and certain other holdings. The rate, the holding period, and the cost that can be taken (including indexation where it still applies) decide the bill. Getting any one of those wrong is how a sale that felt simple becomes an assessment.
Planning covers the exemption routes that the facts actually support: reinvestment under section 54 or 54F, specified bonds under section 54EC, and the timing of the sale against the acquisition of the new asset. Securities gains are computed separately from property gains so the return does not mix the two.
For business asset transfers, family settlements, and restructuring, the same desk looks at whether the transaction is a transfer at all and, if it is, which head and which year take the gain.