Capital gains tax in the US

The American structure is different in shape and the differences are easier to hold as contrasts than as a second list.

Short-term vs long-term gains and qualified dividends

The holding-period line is one year, and it's less ambiguous than people expect. A capital asset held more than one year produces a long-term gain. Short-term gains are taxed at ordinary income rates. Long-term gains go to a separate, lower schedule of brackets, with an additional net investment income tax above stated income thresholds [verify: the capital gain rate brackets and the net investment income tax thresholds published by the IRS at irs.gov; brackets are indexed annually].

Qualified dividends are taxed at the long-term rate, but only if a holding-period condition around the ex-dividend date is met and the payer qualifies. A dividend from a real estate investment trust is generally not qualified. That's why the trust distribution worked through on its own page splits into four kinds of income. The condition catches people who buy just before an ex-date to capture a dividend and sell just after, which converts a favourable rate into an unfavourable one for no gain.

How are capital losses treated in the US?

The wash-sale rule catches a repurchase. Sell a security at a loss and buy the same or a substantially identical security within 30 days before or after the sale, and the loss is disallowed for the current year. The disallowed loss is added to the basis of the replacement lot and the original holding period tacks on, so the benefit survives, only deferred, provided you eventually sell the replacement without repeating the mistake [verify: IRS Publication 550, irs.gov]. The trap that turns deferral into destruction is a repurchase inside a tax-advantaged account, where basis cannot be adjusted the normal way. Selling 200 shares bought at $61.00 for $47.50 realises a $2,700 loss. Buying 200 back at $49.20 inside the window disallows the whole $2,700 and raises the replacement lot's basis from its $9,840 cost to $12,540, which is $62.70 a share.

The ordinary-income offset and the carry-forward come last. Capital losses first offset capital gains without limit. Whatever is left offsets ordinary income up to $3,000 a year, and the rest carries forward indefinitely [verify: IRC section 1211(b) and the current limit, irs.gov. The $3,000 figure is not indexed and has been unchanged for a very long time, which is itself worth noticing]. A $14,600 net capital loss with no gains to absorb it therefore takes five years to use up, at $3,000, $3,000, $3,000, $3,000 and $2,600. Its nominal value at a 24% rate is $3,504; discounted at 5%, it is worth $3,194 today. The deduction isn't lost. It's stretched out, and a loss you can't use this year is worth less than one you can.

Capital gains tax in the US vs India

Set the two regimes side by side and the useful contrast is not the rates.

One rule survives both columns. A realised loss is an asset, and its value depends on when and against what you can use it. Everything else in the table is detail you look up.