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Start Learning → Browse All Articles →F&O turnover is the figure that decides whether a tax audit applies, and it is not the number your broker displays as traded value. It is also not your profit. Getting it wrong is the single
F&O turnover is the figure that decides whether a tax audit applies, and it is not the number your broker displays as traded value. It is also not your profit. Getting it wrong is the single most common source of confusion in trader tax filing.
The generally applied method is the sum of absolute profits and absolute losses on each trade — every trade counted as a positive number regardless of outcome — plus premium received on options written, where that treatment is followed.
Worked example. Four trades in a year:
| Trade | Result | Absolute value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | +₹60,000 | ₹60,000 |
| 2 | −₹35,000 | ₹35,000 |
| 3 | +₹20,000 | ₹20,000 |
| 4 | −₹45,000 | ₹45,000 |
| Net profit = ₹0 | Turnover = ₹1,60,000 | |
A trader who broke exactly even still reports ₹1.6 lakh of turnover. Scale that up and it becomes clear how active traders cross audit thresholds without large profits.
Where premium received on written options is added to turnover, an active option seller’s turnover figure inflates dramatically relative to their actual profit. Guidance on this point has shifted over time, and it materially changes the number.
This is the one item genuinely worth confirming with a chartered accountant for your specific assessment year rather than relying on any general article, including this one.
Turnover alone does not trigger an audit — it interacts with declared profit and with how receipts are made. Broadly: below ₹2 crore, audit applies only if declared profit is under the presumptive percentage and total income exceeds the exemption limit. Between ₹2 crore and ₹10 crore, the digital-transaction condition raises the threshold. Above ₹10 crore, audit applies.
Because F&O settlement runs through banking channels, most traders fall under the higher threshold — but a loss-making trader wanting to carry losses forward can still be caught by the profit-percentage condition.
Your broker’s annual P&L statement is the primary document. Keep contract notes, bank statements covering transfers, and a ledger of charges. STT, brokerage, exchange fees, GST and stamp duty are deductible business expenses.
No. Traded value is contract value, which is far larger. Turnover is the sum of absolute profits and losses, plus premium received on written options where applicable.
Yes. Because profits and losses are both counted as positive, a break-even trader still reports substantial turnover.
Possibly. A loss means declared profit is below the presumptive percentage, which can trigger the audit condition — particularly if you want to carry the loss forward.
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