ITR Filing: All you need to know about P&L statement and steps to download it on Upstox

Tax-filing season is here and for investors it’s the time to arrange all tax related documents before the July 31 deadline for filing the Income Tax Returns (ITR). Apart from the tax saving investment proofs, several other documents are needed to claim exemptions and to calculate the exact tax liability.

One important document for ITR filing is a profit and loss (P&L) statement or the capital gains statement issued by the brokerage firms on your various equity related instruments. P&L statements carry a summary of all transactions related to shares, bonds and mutual funds. The statement carries comprehensive details on your losses and gains on every transaction made throughout the particular financial year.

Profit and loss statements can help investors in tracking details like transaction date, gain or loss made from sales and classification of capital gains, including short term and long term capital gains.

Why should you download P&L statement?

As an investor, you must keep track of your capital gains from stocks or mutual funds. Capital gains are those earnings that are earned from the difference between the price at which an asset is purchased and the selling price of an asset. The gains are divided into two categories, Long Term Capital Gains (LTCG) and Short Term Capital Gains (STCG), depending on how long the investment has been held.

Investors have to mandatorily calculate their capital gains as they are treated as an income and are taxable under the Income Tax Act 1961. The profit and loss (P&L) statement is mandatory for filing your Income Tax Return (ITR) since it shows a consolidated report of all investments and the gains or losses from the investments held with your broker. The P&L statement also helps in calculating the total tax liability based on the gains or losses from investment across different instruments.

Steps to download Profit & Loss Statement on Upstox

Most stock-broking houses offer customers to download profit and loss reports for a particular financial year. Here’s how you can download your P&L statement using the Upstox app:

• Use your 6-digit pin or use your fingerprint to login to the Upstox app
• Click on 'My account'
• Choose 'Reports'
• Select 'Profit & loss report'
• You can either view and download the report using the options provided
• You can also change the time period for which the P&L report is generated using the filters option
• Choose either Equity, F&O, Commodities, Currency
• Specify the date range for which you wish to download the reports
• Click 'Confirm' and then Click on 'Get Reports’
• The profit and loss report for the time period you have specified will now be displayed on your screen

The report can be directly downloaded or you can receive it on your registered email address.

It’s important to note that the last date for filing Income Tax Return for the financial year FY 2023-24 (AY 2024-25) for the taxpayers who don’t need audit, as per the I-T norms, is July 31, 2024. The ITR filing process through the e-filing portal of the I-T Department has already started from the first week of April.