Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman In his Budget 2026 speech on Sunday, he announced that sovereign gold bonds (SGBs) will be exempted from capital gains only on the initial issue for those who bought the SGBs.
Deepak Shenoy is the CEO of Capitalmind AMC. (x/@deepakshenoy)”It is proposed to provide that capital gains tax exemption in respect of sovereign gold bonds shall be available only where such bonds are subscribed by an individual at the time of original issue and held continuously till redemption at maturity,” Sitharaman said while presenting the Union Budget 2026.
“It has also been proposed that this exemption applies equally to all issues of sovereign gold bonds Reserve Bank of India”
Deepak Shenoy, founder and CEO of CapitalMind, was among those who reacted to the announcement of a paper-based alternative to physical gold.
“Holy moly! If you buy SGBs in the market (not from initial issue) you have to pay full capital gains tax when you redeem the bonds! This is from April 1, 2026. Very negative for SGBs if you buy in the market,” wrote the Bengaluru-based CEO on X.
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Check out CapitalMind’s CEO Deepak Shenoy’s response:
What are Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs)?Sovereign Gold Bonds are a digital alternative to buying or holding physical gold and are issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). SGBs are denominated in grams of gold, with each bond unit representing one gram of gold.
Nirmala Sitharaman delivering her ninth budget speechNirmala Sitharaman presented her ninth consecutive budget and the third annual budget in the third term of the BJP-led NDA government. The Finance Minister made several announcements in various sectors including agriculture, finance, health, employment, industry and tourism.
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(Also read: Sena UBT’s Priyanka Chaturvedi Correctly ‘Predicts’ Nirmala Sitharaman’s Saree Choice For Budget 2026)
