What is brokerage and how is it calculated?

Brokerage is the fee a stockbroker charges for executing a trade on your behalf. Discount brokers like Zerodha cap brokerage at ₹20 per order (or 0.03% of turnover, whichever is lower) for intraday, F&O, currency futures, and commodity futures; equity delivery is ₹0. Options (equity, currency, commodity) attract a flat ₹20 per executed order regardless of turnover. Full-service brokers (ICICI Direct, HDFC Securities) charge a percentage of turnover — typically 0.3-0.5% per side — which adds up to thousands more on a large trade.

Why does delivery have higher STT than intraday?

Equity delivery attracts Securities Transaction Tax (STT) at 0.1% on BOTH the buy and sell side, totalling 0.2% of round-trip turnover. Equity intraday attracts STT at 0.025% on the sell side only. The higher delivery rate is policy design — long-term holders take physical ownership of shares and are taxed at the original 0.1% rate, while intraday traders' positions square off the same day and were given a reduced STT regime to keep liquidity flowing. STT is non-negotiable across all brokers; only brokerage varies.

What is the SEBI charge in trading?

SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) levies a turnover fee of ₹10 per crore of turnover, equivalent to 0.0001%. It applies uniformly to ALL segments — equity (intraday, delivery), F&O (futures, options), currency, and commodity — on both buy and sell sides. On a ₹1 lakh round-trip trade the SEBI charge is just ₹0.20 (twenty paisa), but the line item is mandatory on every contract note. The fee funds market regulation, surveillance, and investor-protection programmes.

Are F&O brokerage rates higher than equity?

Brokerage on F&O futures matches equity intraday at ₹20 cap per order (or 0.03% of turnover). F&O options charge a FLAT ₹20 per executed order — no percentage tier. The 'higher cost' perception comes from other line items: STT on sold options is 0.1% on the premium, exchange transaction charges on equity options are 0.0495% of premium (the steepest of any segment), and SEBI + GST stack on top. So a ₹5,000 premium options trade can cost ₹50+ in total charges — roughly 1% of premium — while the same notional in equity intraday costs under ₹100.

How does stamp duty work for stock trades?

Stamp duty was rationalised across India on 1 July 2020 — every trade now attracts stamp duty at the same rate regardless of the buyer's home state. The duty applies to the BUY side only. Rates: equity delivery 0.015%, equity intraday 0.003%, equity F&O futures 0.002%, equity F&O options 0.003%, currency F&O 0.0001%, commodity futures 0.002% (non-agri). The broker collects stamp duty on every contract note and remits it to the issuing state monthly. Before 2020, stamp duty differed by state from 0.002% to 0.012%, which made cross-state trading inconsistent.

Brokerage Calculator — Trade Charges for Equity & F&O

Brokerage

💰 Finance

Brokerage Calculator

Calculate total cost per trade across equity intraday, equity delivery, equity F&O futures, equity F&O options, currency futures, currency options, and commodity futures. Includes brokerage, STT, exchange transaction charges, SEBI fee, stamp duty, and 18% GST.

Reviewed by the CalculatorKosh Editorial TeamUpdated June 2026Free · No sign-up

Trading segment

Buy price

₹

₹0₹1000 Cr

Sell price

₹

₹0₹1000 Cr

Quantity

11000000

Shares for equity; lot-size × number of lots for F&O.

Custom brokerage (override defaults)

Custom brokerage rate (0 = use default)

0%1%

Full-service brokers typically charge 0.3-0.5% per side.

Custom brokerage cap per order (0 = use default ₹20)

₹

₹20 default mirrors Zerodha. Enter 0 (with custom % > 0) for no cap.

Net P&L

₹917

₹1,000 gross − ₹83 charges = ₹917 net · break-even at ₹1,000.83

Gross P&L

₹1,000

Total charges

₹83

Charges / turnover

0.040%

Break-even sell

₹1,000.83

Cost breakdown

Brokerage

Buy ₹20.00 + Sell ₹20.00

₹40.00

STT / CTT

₹25.25

Exchange transaction

₹6.17

SEBI charges

₹0.20

Stamp duty (buy side)

₹3.00

GST 18%

₹8.35

Total₹82.97

Compare to other segments

Same trade ran across three segments — cost profile differs because STT, exchange, and stamp-duty rates differ per segment.

Segment	Total charges	Net P&L	Cost %
Equity Delivery (CNC)	₹239.45	₹760.55	0.120%
Equity Intraday (MIS)(your choice)	₹82.97	₹917.03	0.040%
Equity F&O Futures	₹73.98	₹926.02	0.040%

How It Works

A brokerage calculator shows the TRUE cost of a trade after stacking every statutory and broker-side charge — brokerage, STT/CTT, exchange transaction charges, SEBI turnover fee, stamp duty, and 18% GST. For equity delivery there's also a flat DP charge per scrip per day on the sell side.

Cost = Brokerage + Statutory charges + GST

Total = Brokerage(buy) + Brokerage(sell) + STT + Exchange + SEBI + Stamp Duty + GST

On Zerodha's pricing, equity delivery is ₹0 brokerage; intraday, futures, and commodity futures cap at ₹20 per order (or 0.03% of turnover, whichever is lower); options charge a flat ₹20 per order. 18% GST applies to the sum of brokerage + exchange transaction + SEBI charges — not to STT or stamp duty (those are taxes themselves).

Why net P&L matters more than gross P&L

A ₹1,000 gross profit on a ₹1 lakh intraday round trip becomes a ~₹917 net profit after charges — a ~8% drag. On smaller trades the drag is steeper because the ₹20 brokerage cap and per-order DP charge dominate. The break-even sell price field below shows the EXACT price at which your trade would just cover all charges.

Discount brokers vs full-service brokers

Discount brokers (Zerodha, Upstox, Angel One, 5paisa) use ₹20 caps; full-service brokers (ICICI Direct, HDFC Securities, Kotak) charge a percentage of turnover — typically 0.3-0.5% per side — which can multiply costs by 10-20× on a ₹5 lakh trade. The custom brokerage rate field lets you model your specific broker's rate card.

Frequently Asked Questions

Brokerage is the fee your broker charges for executing a trade. Discount brokers (Zerodha, Upstox, Angel One) cap brokerage at ₹20 per order (or 0.03% of turnover, whichever is lower) for intraday, F&O futures, currency futures, and commodity futures. Equity delivery is ₹0. Options charge a flat ₹20 per order regardless of turnover.

Full-service brokers (ICICI Direct, HDFC Securities, Kotak Securities) charge a percentage of turnover — typically 0.3-0.5% per side. On a ₹5 lakh trade that works out to ₹1,500-2,500 per side vs ₹20 on a discount broker. Use the custom brokerage rate field above to model your specific broker's pricing.