Why a Consolidated Equity P&L Statement Is Non-Negotiable in FY 2025-26
The Income Tax Department's Annual Information Statement (AIS) now captures almost every listed equity transaction by cross-referencing data from depositories, brokers, and stock exchanges. If your client's ITR doesn't reconcile with the AIS, expect a notice.
At the same time, the capital gains tax structure changed materially in July 2024 and carries into FY 2025-26:
- Short-Term Capital Gains (STCG) on listed equity — shares held for less than 12 months — are now taxed at 20% (up from 15% before 23 July 2024)
- Long-Term Capital Gains (LTCG) on listed equity — shares held for more than 12 months — are taxed at 12.5% on gains exceeding ₹1.25 lakh per financial year
- F&O income is treated as non-speculative business income and must be reported in ITR-3, not ITR-2
A correct consolidated statement is the foundation of getting all three right.
What an Equity P&L Consolidated Statement Must Contain
A tax-ready consolidated statement for FY 2025-26 should include the following for every client:
1. Trade-Level Detail
Each transaction should show: trade date, scrip/instrument name and ISIN, exchange (NSE or BSE), segment (EQ, F&O, COM, CUR), buy/sell type, quantity, price, trade value, brokerage, STT, and other charges.
2. Realized P&L by Segment
- Equity delivery P&L (STCG + LTCG separately)
- Intraday equity P&L (speculative business income)
- F&O P&L (non-speculative business income)
3. STCG vs. LTCG Classification
Every delivery trade must be classified using the holding period — the number of days between the buy date and sell date. The 12-month threshold determines whether the gain is STCG (taxed at 20%) or LTCG (taxed at 12.5% above ₹1.25L).
4. Total Charges Summary
STT, brokerage, exchange fees, SEBI charges, and GST on brokerage are allowable deductions from business income. For capital gains, only the cost of acquisition and STT on sale are deductible — other charges are not. This distinction matters.
5. Broker-wise Breakup
The consolidated statement should show which broker contributed what, so the CA can cross-check against individual broker statements and the AIS.
The Standard Workflow — and Where It Breaks Down
Most CAs follow some version of this process: collect exports from each broker, receive a mix of Excel files and CSVs with different column structures, manually copy data into a master spreadsheet, apply STCG/LTCG logic, and cross-check against AIS before filing.
This workflow has three recurring failure points:
Different column formats. Zerodha's P&L export looks nothing like Groww's or Angel One's. Mapping these manually introduces errors.
Holding period mismatches. When a client bought shares across multiple brokers and sold through one, or transferred shares via off-market transactions, the holding period calculation becomes non-trivial. A wrong classification shifts income between the 20% STCG bucket and the 12.5% LTCG bucket — a material difference.
Missing transactions. Clients often forget a broker account they haven't used in a while. When the AIS reflects those trades and the ITR does not, the department notices.
Broker-by-Broker: Where to Download P&L Statements
| Broker | Navigation Path |
|---|---|
| Zerodha (Kite) | Console → Reports → Tax P&L → Select FY → Download All Segments |
| Groww | Profile → Reports → Tax Filing → Capital Gains → Select FY |
| Angel One | Reports → P&L Summary → All Segments → FY 2025-26 → Export Excel |
| Upstox | Reports → P&L → Select FY → Download |
| 5paisa | Reports → Tax P&L → Select Period → Download |
| ICICI Direct | Reports → Portfolio → P&L → Select FY → Export |
| HDFC Securities | Reports → Capital Gains → Select FY → Download |
| Kotak Securities | Reports → Trade History → Capital Gains → Export |
| Dhan | Reports → P&L → Select FY → Download |
| Paytm Money | Reports → Tax P&L → Select FY → Download |
| Motilal Oswal | Reports → P&L → Capital Gains → Select FY → Export |
| Sharekhan | Reports → P&L Report → Select FY → Export |
ITR Form Selection Based on the Consolidated Statement
| Income Type | ITR Form |
|---|---|
| Only equity delivery (STCG + LTCG), salary income | ITR-2 |
| F&O income, intraday equity, or any business income | ITR-3 |
If a client has both capital gains and F&O income, they must file ITR-3. A client who traded even a single F&O contract cannot file ITR-2 — filing the wrong form results in a defective return notice.
Due dates for AY 2026-27: Non-audit cases: 31 July 2026. Tax audit cases: 31 October 2026.
Reconciling with AIS Before Filing
Before finalizing any ITR, reconcile the consolidated P&L statement with the client's AIS on the Income Tax Portal. The AIS shows all listed equity sale transactions reported by brokers, dividend income, and mutual fund redemptions. Discrepancies between the consolidated statement and the AIS are the most common trigger for scrutiny notices.
How FirstReports Eliminates the Manual Step
FirstReports was built specifically for this workflow. Upload any broker's CSV or Excel export — Zerodha, Groww, Angel One, Upstox, 5paisa, ICICI Direct, HDFC Securities, Kotak Securities, Dhan, Paytm Money, Motilal Oswal, or Sharekhan — and the platform auto-detects the format, normalizes the column structure, and produces a single consolidated equity P&L statement per client.
Every statement is broken down by segment (EQ, F&O, COM, CUR), STCG/LTCG classified using holding period logic, summarized by broker and instrument, and exportable as Excel or PDF. The first client is free.
Practical Checklist for CAs — FY 2025-26 Equity P&L Filing
- Collected P&L exports from all broker platforms the client uses
- Confirmed financial year selection is FY 2025-26 in each broker portal
- Normalized all files into a single trade-level dataset
- Classified each trade as STCG or LTCG based on holding period
- Separated F&O trades into the business income bucket
- Separated intraday equity into speculative business income
- Reconciled against the client's AIS — all discrepancies explained
- Selected correct ITR form (ITR-2 or ITR-3 depending on income types)