Government Has Sovereign Right to Tax Cryptocurrency; Decision on Ban to Come Later: Finance Minister

In her Budget speech on February 1, Sitharaman had said that only RBI-issued Digital rupee will be recognised as currency.

By Press Trust of India | Updated: 11 February 2022 14:30 IST

Government Has Sovereign Right to Tax Cryptocurrency; Decision on Ban to Come Later: Finance Minister

The Budget 2022-23 has proposed a 1 percent TDS on payments towards virtual currencies beyond Rs. 10,000

Highlights

The minister was responding to the questions raised by Congress member
30 percent tax will be levied on gains made from private digital assets
The provisions related to 1 percent TDS will come into effect from July 1

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the government has sovereign right to tax profit made from cryptocurrency transactions, and the decision on banning or not banning will be taken based on feedback from consultations.

Replying to the general discussion on Union Budget, the minister said, "I am not going to legalise it or ban it at this stage. Banning or not banning will come subsequently, when consultations give me input".

About the profit emanating from transactions in cryptocurrencies, she stated that "(Whether it is) legitimate or illegitimate, it is a different question, but I will tax because it is a sovereign right to tax".

How Will Your Crypto Be Taxed?

The minister was responding to the questions raised by Congress member Chhaya Verma on cryptocurrency.

Verma had asked about the legitimacy of taxing cryptocurrency.

In her Budget speech on February 1, FM Sitharaman had said that only RBI-issued Digital Rupee will be recognised as currency, and the government will levy a 30 percent tax on gains made from any other private digital assets from April 1.

Cryptocurrency Incomes to Be Taxed? Finance Ministry to Reportedly Examine

The Budget 2022-23 has proposed a 1 percent TDS on payments towards virtual currencies beyond Rs. 10,000 in a year and taxation of such gifts in the hands of the recipient. The threshold limit for TDS would be Rs. 50,000 a year for specified persons, which include individuals/HUFs who are required to get their accounts audited under the I-T Act.

Also, no deduction in respect of any expenditure or allowance shall be allowed while computing income from transactions in such assets. It has also specified that losses from the transfer of virtual digital assets will not be allowed to be set off against any other income.

The provisions related to 1 percent TDS will come into effect from July 1, 2022, while the gains will be taxed effective April 1.

Are Oppo's new flagship phones any good? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Cryptocurrency Prices across Indian exchanges

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Cryptocurrency India, Cryptocurrency Tax, Cryptocurrency Prices, Cryptocurrency Market, Bitcoin, Bitcoin price in India