What is the process of selling unlisted shares?

I have some shares of Gayatri Highways, which has now been unlisted. How can I sell these shares?

Vikash Jain, Co-founder, Share Samadhan: When a company gets unlisted, it has to provide the opportunity to its shareholders to exit at a given price and a time frame for doing so. If you have not sold your shares during this exit period, you may check in the offline market, where unlisted shares are sold. There are many players in the market, who provide trading facility in unlisted shares through off-market transfers. Here, the sale does not take place in the stock exchange, but you transfer the shares through a delivery instruction slip (DIS) in the offline mode. So you will have to consult the entities dealing in unlisted shares to sell your shares. If these are not being traded in the unlisted market as well, there is no option but to hold them till the shares are listed again, if at all, or are traded in the offline market. The good news, however, is that the company is still active.

I have taken a two-year sabbatical from work to travel and pursue my hobbies. Last year, my income was Rs 5.1 lakh from mutual fund redemptions, all of which were long-term holdings. The long-term capital gain was around Rs 2 lakh. Will there be any tax liability for this year and how will tax be calculated?

Shubham Agrawal, Senior Taxation Adviser, TaxFile: The mutual fund redemption of `5.1 lakh is not your income, but sale proceeds from your investment. It does not factor in the investment cost. Verify the exact capital gain from the report provided by your broker or investment platform. The taxability of equity-oriented mutual funds is at the rate of 10%, with applicable surcharge and cess. Mutual funds qualify as equity-oriented if more than 65% is allocated to equity, otherwise it is considered a debt fund. If the redemption is of a debt fund, the capital gain will be taxed at your slab rate. Since your gain is below the basic exemption limit of Rs 2.5 lakh, you will not have to pay tax. However, you should file your returns, disclosing all transaction details.

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