After the Budget 2026 presentation, the Income Tax Department justified the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) hike on futures and options (F&O), 0.05% and 0.15%, respectively, is to "curb speculative activity". It explained that the total F&O transaction volume, which is more than ₹1,50,000 lakh crore rupees, is 500 times more than GDP, which stands at ₹300 lakh crore.