Contract Note, Brokerage and Charges
A Contract Note is the legal record of every trade — it must be issued within 24 hours of execution and establishes a legally enforceable relationship between b...
Contract Note + Full Cost Stack
A Contract Note is the legal record of every trade — it must be issued within 24 hours of execution and establishes a legally enforceable relationship between broker and client. Charges include brokerage, STT, exchange transaction charges, SEBI fee, GST on brokerage, stamp duty, and IPFT (Investor Protection Fund Trust) charge.
The contract note is issued digitally (signed with Digital Signature Certificate) or physically, within 24 hours of trade. It shows: trade date + time, scrip, qty, rate, brokerage, STT, exchange fee, stamp duty, SEBI fee, GST, net consideration. Brokerage is negotiable (₹0–0.5% typical range). STT: 0.1% on delivery-buy + 0.1% on delivery-sell; 0.025% on intraday sell only; 0.02% on futures sell; 0.125% on options premium (on sale). Stamp duty is state-driven but standardised post-2020: 0.015% on delivery, 0.003% on intraday/F&O — only on BUY side. GST at 18% on brokerage + exchange fee. The total "all-in cost" matters for net return calculations.
Without it, no enforceable claim
The only component that's negotiable
Different rates for delivery, intraday, F&O
18% on brokerage + exchange charges
A Practical Example
What Makes This Important
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Intraday STT is levied only on the SELL leg, at 0.025%. The rationale: intraday means no change of beneficial ownership — STT effectively taxes the notional transaction.
🧠 Quick Quiz
2 questions to check your understanding