Peak value in Schedule FA: how it's actually computed
July 2026 · 6 min read
"Peak value of investment during the period" is the Schedule FA column that cannot be copied from any broker statement — no broker computes it, because it only exists in Indian tax law. It is also where most DIY attempts quietly go wrong, because the correct computation needs daily data in two currencies.
What the form is actually asking
For each holding in Table A3 (and for the account's cash in Table A2), Schedule FA wants the highest value the asset reached at any point during the calendar year, expressed in INR. Three consequences follow:
- It is a daily question — you need the holding's value on every trading day of the year, not at month-ends or quarter-ends.
- It is an INR question — each day's value is price × quantity × that day's SBI TT buying rate. The day the USD value peaked and the day the INR value peaked are often different days, because the rupee moves too.
- It is a per-lot question — two lots of the same stock bought on different dates have different quantities held over different spans, so each gets its own peak.
A worked example
Say you hold 10 shares of a US stock through 2025, and consider three days:
| Date | Price (USD) | Value (USD) | Rate (₹/$) | Value (INR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 Mar 2025 | 212.00 | 2,120 | 84.10 | 1,78,292 |
| 29 Aug 2025 | 209.50 | 2,095 | 86.40 | 1,81,008 |
| 31 Dec 2025 | 198.00 | 1,980 | 85.90 | 1,70,082 |
The USD peak is 18 March, but the reportable peak is 29 August — a lower dollar value on a weaker rupee produced the higher INR figure. Converting the USD peak at some other day's rate, or at a single annual rate, gets this wrong by construction.
The window: this calendar year only
For a lot bought during the year, the peak window runs from its purchase date to December 31. For a lot bought in an earlier year, the window is the whole calendar year — but only this calendar year. A stock that traded far higher in a previous year does not drag that old high into this year's disclosure; "during the period" means during the period.
The shortcuts that produce wrong numbers
- Reporting the December 31 value as the peak;
- Reporting cost as the peak (guaranteed wrong for anything that ever traded above cost);
- Taking the USD peak and converting it at the year-end rate;
- Using one average annual exchange rate for every day;
- Computing one peak per symbol instead of per lot.
Done properly, the computation is roughly 250 trading days × a daily rate table × every lot you hold — mechanical, but exactly the kind of mechanical that spreadsheets fumble. The same daily series also gives you the closing value for free, and the equivalent replay of cash events produces Table A2's peak balance. For how income amounts convert differently, see Rule 115 and the SBI TT buying rate.
Frequently asked questions
Is peak value the same as the highest USD value of my holding?
Not necessarily. Peak value is the highest INR value, which is price × quantity × that day's exchange rate. Because the rupee moves daily, the INR peak can fall on a different day than the USD peak — especially in years when the rupee weakened sharply.
For a stock I bought two years ago, over what period do I find the peak?
Over the reporting calendar year only. A lot bought in 2023 and still held through 2025 gets its peak from 2025's daily values — prices from earlier years are irrelevant to this year's disclosure, however high they were.
Can I just use the year-end closing value as the peak?
No — the form asks for both separately because they differ. Peak equals closing only if the holding's INR value hit its high on the last day of the year, which is the exception rather than the rule.
Which exchange rate do I use for each day?
The form's instructions point to SBI's telegraphic transfer buying rate. For peak and closing values the convention is the rate for the valuation date itself — unlike income amounts, which follow Rule 115's preceding-month-end rule.