Share Trading Cost in Nepal: Broker Commission, SEBON Fee, DP Charge and CGT
Updated 25 October 2026 · Nepsense Markets
As of 25 October 2026, every NEPSE trade carries four charges: broker commission, the SEBON regulatory fee, a depository (DP) charge, and capital gains tax when you sell at a profit. None is huge on its own. Together, they're the gap between the price on your screen and the money in your bank.
Before you size a trade, it's worth checking today's NEPSE index and then running the numbers below against your own order size.
The four charges on every NEPSE trade
| Charge | When it's charged | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Broker commission | Buy and sell | 0.36% to 0.24% of trade value, tiered |
| SEBON regulatory fee | Buy and sell | 0.015% of trade value |
| DP charge | Per company, per settlement | Flat Rs 25 |
| Capital gains tax | Sell, on profit only | 3.75% held over 365 days, 5% held 365 days or fewer, for individuals; 10% for institutions |
The percentages are fixed. What changes is how much the flat Rs 25 DP charge hurts, which is a lot on a small trade and nothing on a large one.
What is the broker commission on NEPSE?
SEBON sets the maximum broker commission, not a fixed rate. The slabs below have been in force since May 2024, when SEBON cut them by 10%. Since 2025, SEBON has treated them as ceilings, so a broker may legally charge less — though most still bill the full slab.
The commission slabs
| Trade value | Commission (ceiling) |
|---|---|
| Up to Rs 50,000 | 0.36% |
| Rs 50,001 to Rs 5 lakh | 0.33% |
| Rs 5 lakh to Rs 20 lakh | 0.31% |
| Rs 20 lakh to Rs 1 crore | 0.27% |
| Above Rs 1 crore | 0.24% |
One thing that trips people up: the slab applies to the whole trade value, not in bands. A Rs 1 lakh trade pays 0.33% on the full Rs 1 lakh, not 0.36% on the first Rs 50,000 and 0.33% on the rest. There's also a published Rs 10 minimum per transaction, which only matters on very small trades.
The commission on your contract note is split roughly 79.4% to the broker, 20% to NEPSE, and 0.6% to SEBON — but you pay it as one line.
SEBON fee and DP charge
The SEBON regulatory fee is 0.015% of the transaction value, on both the buy and the sell. On a Rs 1 lakh trade, that's Rs 15 each side. Your broker collects it and passes it to the regulator.
The DP charge is a flat Rs 25 per company, per settlement, charged by CDSC through your broker. It doesn't scale with trade size. Buy two different companies on the same day and that's two Rs 25 charges. Sources disagree on whether the DP charge applies to both the buy and the sell or only the sell, so confirm with your own broker before you assume.
Capital gains tax on shares in Nepal
Capital gains tax is the charge people miss, because it's invisible until settlement. It only applies when you sell at a gain, and only to the gain — never the full sale value.
As of 22 September 2026, after a Cabinet decision under section 18(1) of the Finance Act 2083, a resident individual selling SEBON-listed shares pays 3.75% if the shares were held more than 365 days and 5% if held 365 days or fewer. Institutions pay 10%.
| Who is selling | Held more than 365 days | Held 365 days or fewer |
|---|---|---|
| Resident individual | 3.75% | 5% |
| Institution | 10% | 10% |
The rate schedule depends on the settlement date of your sale; the holding period depends on when you bought. A sale settled after 22 September 2026 uses the new rates.
CDSC computes the gain on your weighted average cost (WACC) and withholds the tax at settlement, so you don't pay it by hand. Bonus shares enter the cost basis at zero; right shares enter at the price you paid. Loss set-off is still not in force, so every profitable sale is taxed on its own. For the full WACC math, see how capital gains tax on NEPSE shares is calculated.
Worked example: what a Rs 1 lakh trade really costs
Say you buy Rs 1,00,000 of a single company's shares, hold them for more than a year, and sell at Rs 1,30,000. Keeping it to one company means one DP charge per side.
Buy side
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Trade value | Rs 1,00,000 |
| Broker commission (0.33%) | Rs 330 |
| SEBON fee (0.015%) | Rs 15 |
| DP charge | Rs 25 |
| Total cost to buy | Rs 370 |
| All-in cost basis | Rs 1,00,370 |
Sell side
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sale value | Rs 1,30,000 |
| Broker commission (0.33%) | Rs 429 |
| SEBON fee (0.015%) | Rs 19.50 |
| DP charge | Rs 25 |
| Net proceeds before tax | Rs 1,29,526 |
| Taxable gain (proceeds minus all-in cost) | Rs 29,156 |
| Capital gains tax (3.75%) | Rs 1,093.35 |
| Net in hand | Rs 1,28,432.65 |
That's Rs 1,936.85 of friction on a Rs 30,000 gross gain — roughly 6.5%. Sell the same position within 365 days and CGT at 5% is Rs 1,457.80, leaving about Rs 1,28,068.70, or roughly 7.7% of the gross gain gone.
Break-even price
To break even, your sale proceeds after sell-side charges need to cover the Rs 1,00,370 all-in cost. That happens at a sale price of roughly Rs 1,00,743 — about 0.74% above your buy price. The CGT rate doesn't change the break-even, because it's a percentage of the gain: at the break-even point there's no gain, and above it the tax simply cuts into profit.
Why small trades cost more
The fixed charges are why tiny trades are expensive. On a Rs 2,000 trade, the Rs 25 DP charge is already more than 1% of the trade before any commission. The Rs 10 minimum commission squeezes it further. Trade in meaningful sizes, and don't split a position into handfuls if you can avoid it.
One-time and account costs
Before any of this, there's the account plumbing, and it's cheap:
- Demat account: opening is often free or around Rs 100 to Rs 200; annual maintenance is commonly Rs 100 to Rs 200.
- MeroShare: about Rs 50 to register, plus roughly Rs 50 a year.
- Broker / TMS account: free to open; you pay commission only when you trade.
- C-ASBA: capped at about Rs 5 per IPO application.
Fees vary slightly by depository participant and broker, so confirm the exact numbers when you open the account.
When the money actually moves
All trading costs are deducted at settlement, not when you place the order. NEPSE settles on T+2, so the cash from a sale lands two trading days after the trade — and if a holiday sits in between, it lands after that. There's no same-day selling on NEPSE, so plan around the settlement calendar. See how T+2 settlement works on NEPSE, check NEPSE's trading hours, and if you're new to the process, read how to buy shares in Nepal.
Key takeaways
- Four charges: broker commission, SEBON fee and DP charge on both sides; capital gains tax only when you sell at a profit.
- Broker commission is a ceiling, in force since May 2024: 0.36% on small trades down to 0.24% above Rs 1 crore, applied to the whole trade value, with a Rs 10 minimum.
- The Rs 25 DP charge is flat per company, and it punishes small trades more than any percentage ever will.
- CGT as of 22 September 2026: 3.75% for shares held over 365 days, 5% for 365 days or fewer, and 10% for institutions — withheld at settlement on the gain only.
- On a Rs 1 lakh round trip sold at Rs 1.3 lakh, costs run about Rs 1,937 at the long-term rate, and the break-even sell price is about Rs 1,00,743.
- Watch how it all moves on the NEPSE index, and if you want to see the order flow behind these prices, compare Nepsense's plans.