New Delhi, Feb. 10 -- Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha has demanded that the government abolish the Long-Term Capital Gains Tax (LTCG) on equities for individual investors. The demand comes after the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an increase in Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on derivatives trading in the Union Budget 2026-2027.​

Speaking during the Budget discussion in the upper house of the Parliament, the Aam Aadmi Party MP welcomed the STT hike on futures & options (F&O) trading, but urged the Finance Minister to make LTCG on equities nil for individual investors, in line with many other countries, to avoid disincentivising investors.

STT was introduced in 2004 by the then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram to replac...