SGB Calculator
Sovereign Gold Bond returns done properly, for the two cases that are now taxed very differently. The 2.5% coupon is paid on the original issue price rather than what you paid, and since 1 April 2026 the redemption exemption belongs only to original subscribers who hold to maturity.
Your holding
What you keep
| What you paid | — |
| Interest per year (2.5% of issue price) | — |
| Interest yield on your cost | — |
| Total interest over the period | — |
| Tax on that interest | — |
| Redemption value | — |
| Capital gain | — |
| Capital gains treatment | — |
| Capital gains tax | — |
| Total post-tax proceeds | — |
Interest is assumed paid half-yearly and taxed at slab as it arrives. Redemption is priced at the gold level you entered. XIRR uses the actual timing of those flows rather than a simple average.
The coupon is not what you think it is
Every description of Sovereign Gold Bonds leads with "2.5% interest on top of gold returns." That is true for the original subscriber and misleading for everyone buying today, because the 2.5% is calculated on the issue price the RBI set for that tranche, not on the market price you pay.
Gold has moved a long way since most tranches were issued. Buy a bond that was issued at ₹5,000 a gram for ₹9,000 today and you still receive ₹125 per gram per year. On your ₹9,000 that is about 1.4%, not 2.5%. The older and more appreciated the tranche, the wider that gap.
It also means two SGBs with identical maturity dates can pay you materially different interest yields, depending purely on which tranche they came from. Check the issue price of the specific series before comparing prices on the exchange.
What changed on 1 April 2026
For a decade the SGB's headline feature was that the redemption gain was entirely tax-free. That exemption now belongs only to investors who bought in the RBI's own issuance and held continuously to the eight-year redemption.
If you bought on the exchange, the redemption gain is an ordinary capital gain: 12.5% plus cess beyond 12 months, or your slab rate within. Since no new tranche has been issued since February 2024, every SGB purchase made today falls into the taxable category. The full guide covers the mechanics and what it does to the secondary-market trade.
Where SGBs sit now
This is a gold instrument with a small coupon attached, not a fixed income instrument. The dominant variable in every calculation above is the gold price you assumed, which nobody knows, and which can move further in a month than the coupon pays in a year. The interest is a rounding detail next to it.
That is worth stating plainly on a fixed income site: if you want a known rupee outcome on a known date, this is the wrong instrument, and the comparator covers the ones that do that. SGBs earn their place as a gold holding that pays you to wait, for someone who wanted gold exposure anyway.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 2.5% SGB interest paid on what I paid for the bond?
No, and this catches most secondary-market buyers. The 2.5% is calculated on the original issue price fixed by the RBI when the tranche was sold, not on the price you paid on the exchange. If you buy at ₹9,000 a gram against a ₹5,000 issue price, you receive 2.5% of ₹5,000, which is ₹125 a year, or about 1.4% on your actual outlay. The headline coupon and your real interest yield are different numbers.
Are SGB gains still tax-free?
Only for the original subscriber who holds to maturity. From 1 April 2026 the capital-gains exemption at redemption applies solely to investors who bought in the RBI issuance and held continuously to the eight-year redemption. Anyone who bought on the exchange pays 12.5% plus cess if they held more than 12 months, or slab rate within 12 months. Interest has always been taxed at slab and still is.
Can I still buy new SGBs?
No. The last tranche was Series IV of FY 2023-24, which closed in February 2024, and no new issuance calendar has been announced since. Existing SGBs trade on the NSE and BSE, so buying now means buying on the secondary market, which is exactly the category the 2026 tax change affects.
What price will I get at redemption?
The simple average of the closing price of 999-purity gold over the three business days before the redemption date, as published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association. Nobody can tell you that number in advance, which is why the gold price here is an input you set rather than a figure this page pretends to know.
When can I exit an SGB?
At the eight-year maturity, or from year five onwards on an interest payment date through the RBI, or at any time by selling on the exchange. Selling on the exchange is a normal capital-gains event, and exchange liquidity in individual SGB series is thin, so the price you get can sit some way from the underlying gold value.
Related tools & guides
Educational tool, last reviewed July 2026. Results are estimates based on your inputs and standard market conventions; actual traded prices, taxes and platform charges may differ. Not investment advice; see the disclaimer.