The Indian Government Announces New Crypto Tax Penalties

The Indian Government Announces New Crypto Tax Penalties

The Indian government has imposed new penalties for non-compliance with tax laws regarding cryptocurrency transactions. This includes non-payment of TDS (Tax Deducted at Source).

Unfortunately for the cryptocurrency community, the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, did not mention cryptocurrencies in her recent budget speech. Currently, income derived from cryptocurrencies is taxed at a rate of 30%, with TDS being set at 1%.

Disappointment from the Crypto Community 

The Indian Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, recently presented the 2023 Union Budget in parliament. However, the budget did not mention cryptocurrency despite the recent Economic Survey emphasizing the need for a unified approach to regulating the crypto industry. This was met with disappointment from the crypto community in India, who expressed their opinions on social media platforms like Twitter.

The CEO of Indian cryptocurrency exchange Unocoin, Sathvik Vishwanath, expressed disappointment over the lack of mention of crypto or blockchain in the recent Union Budget 2023. He felt that amendments were needed to revive the industry, which has been affected by the 1% TDS announcement from the previous year. 

On the other hand, the Vice President of another crypto exchange Wazirx, Rajagopal Menon, criticized the budget for not making any changes to existing crypto taxes, causing uncertainty and hindering growth in the industry due to high taxes and a weak regulatory framework.

New Penalties for Non-Payment of TDS

The Finance Bill has reportedly included an amendment to the Income Tax Act related to crypto TDS. A crypto tax firm, Koinx, explained the consequences of failing to deduct or pay TDS on crypto transactions, which could result in a penalty equal to the unpaid TDS and a 15% annual interest for late payments. India Today reported that failing to pay TDS on crypto transactions could also result in a jail sentence of up to seven years.