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Indian Express
21 hours ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Govt collected Rs 437 crore as income tax from crypto in FY24, up 63% from FY23
The government collected Rs 437.43 crore as income tax on gains from cryptocurrencies – or Virtual Digital Assets (VDA), as they are called legally – in 2023-24, up 63 per cent from the previous year, the Finance Ministry said on Monday. In a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha on the first day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said that the tax collected on income from VDAs in 2022-23 was Rs 269.09 crore. This rose to 437.43 crore in 2023-24. Data for 2024-25 is not available yet as the due date for filing income tax returns for the year has not passed, Chaudhary said. While India at present does not have any law regulating crypto, the government introduced a flat 30 per cent tax on profit generated through the sale of VDAs starting April 2022, with losses made on the sale of these assets not permitted to be set-off against any other income or be carried forward. Later, starting July 2022, a 1 per cent tax deducted at source (TDS) on cryptocurrency transactions came into effect. 'The Government is utilising data analytics tools to trace and detect tax evasion from VDA related transactions. The analysis includes the use of Non-Filer Monitoring System (NMS), Project Insight and internal databases of the Income Tax Department, to correlate available information on VDA transactions with the transactions disclosed in the return of income by the taxpayer,' Chaudhary further said. He added that while VDA transactions filed in income tax returns were not being matched in real-time with information filed by Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), the TDS returns of these service providers and income tax returns filed by taxpayers were being analysed to identify any discrepancies in reporting of crypto transactions. 'Central Board of Direct Taxes has initiated NUDGE (Non-Intrusive use of Data to Guide and Enable) campaign to identify such discrepancies for further action. Under NUDGE campaign suitable communications, to review and update their income tax returns, were issued to all taxpayers who did not report VDA related transactions in their income tax returns, despite tax being deducted at source for such transactions by VASPs, where the quantum of such discrepancy was more than Rs 1 lakh,' Chaudhary said. The Indian Express had reported last month, quoting sources, that the income tax department is investigating tax evasion and laundering of unaccounted income by high-risk persons through investments in VDAs, with analysis of crypto transaction data showing 'significant violations' of income tax rules. In his response in the Lok Sabha on Monday, the Minister of State for Finance said the government had not made any estimate regarding the projected revenue loss due to under-reporting or misreporting of income from VDA or crypto transactions. The information from the finance ministry on the income tax collected from crypto comes a day after CoinDCX, one of India's leading cryptocurrency exchanges, disclosed that it had suffered a loss of around $44 million, roughly Rs 379 crore, due to a security breach. Meanwhile, another leading Indian crypto firm WazirX was hit by a cyberattack last year which saw hackers allegedly steal more than $230 million of users' holdings. According to a December 2024 paper by New Delhi-based tech policy think-tank Esya Centre, analysis of relevant transaction data from December 2023 to October 2024 showed that Indians traded more than Rs 2.63 lakh crore on offshore crypto platforms, which corresponds to Rs 2,634 crore in TDS owed by offshore platforms. According to the think-tank, the total TDS that has not been collected from offshore exchanges since July 2022 possibly exceeds Rs 6,000 crore. Over the next five years, the think-tank projected, total crypto trading by Indians on offshore platforms could lead to more than Rs 17,000 crore of uncollected TDS. Siddharth Upasani is a Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. He reports primarily on data and the economy, looking for trends and changes in the former which paint a picture of the latter. Before The Indian Express, he worked at Moneycontrol and financial newswire Informist (previously called Cogencis). Outside of work, sports, fantasy football, and graphic novels keep him busy. ... Read More
New Indian Express
14-07-2025
- New Indian Express
Income-Tax department conducts raids in bogus tax deductions case
NEW DELHI: The Income-Tax Department on Monday launched multi-city raids as part of a tax evasion probe against those entities which assist certain individuals avail bogus deductions in their returns by claiming a variety of exemptions, official sources said. According to officials, false deductions claimed by persons in lieu of making political donations to registered or unregistered political parties, payment of medical insurance, tuition fee and certain category of loans are among those cases which are being investigated as part of these raids. Certain individuals and their tax advisors like filers and accountants, who help them claim bogus exemptions, are being searched as part of the operation, they said. The action was taken after it was found that certain taxpayers have not filed their updated correct ITRs (Income Tax Returns) even after the tax department approaching them under the NUDGE (Non-intrusive Usage of Data to Guide and Enable) campaign which has a philosophy of 'trust taxpayers first', they said.
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Business Standard
14-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
I-T dept conducts raids in multiple cities in bogus tax deductions case
False deductions claimed by persons in lieu of making political donations to political parties, payment of medical insurance, and tuition fee are among those cases which are being investigated Press Trust of India The Income-Tax Department on Monday launched multi-city raids as part of a tax evasion probe against those entities which assist certain individuals avail bogus deductions in their returns by claiming a variety of exemptions, official sources said. They said false deductions claimed by persons in lieu of making political donations to registered or unregistered political parties, payment of medical insurance, tuition fee and certain category of loans are among those cases which are being investigated as part of these raids. Certain individuals and their tax advisors like filers and accountants, who help them claim bogus exemptions, are being searched as part of the operation, they said. The action was taken after it was found that certain taxpayers have not filed their updated correct ITRs (Income Tax Returns) even after the tax department approaching them under the NUDGE (Non-intrusive Usage of Data to Guide and Enable) campaign which has a philosophy of 'trust taxpayers first', they said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Hindu
14-07-2025
- The Hindu
I-T Department conducts raids in bogus tax deductions case
The Income-Tax Department on Monday (July 14, 2025) launched multi-city raids as part of a tax evasion probe against those entities which assist certain individuals avail bogus deductions in their returns by claiming a variety of exemptions, official sources said. They said false deductions claimed by persons in lieu of making political donations to registered or unregistered political parties, payment of medical insurance, tuition fee and certain category of loans are among those cases which are being investigated as part of these raids. Certain individuals and their tax advisors like filers and accountants, who help them claim bogus exemptions, are being searched as part of the operation, they said. The action was taken after it was found that certain taxpayers have not filed their updated correct ITRs (Income Tax Returns) even after the tax department approaching them under the NUDGE (Non-intrusive Usage of Data to Guide and Enable) campaign which has a philosophy of 'trust taxpayers first', they said.
Mint
18-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
Invested in crypto? Report it in your income tax return as taxmen ‘nudge' investors
The Income Tax Department (ITD) has sent a communication to thousands of individuals who have undertaken cryptocurrency transactions but failed to reflect this income in their returns, official sources said last week, reported PTI. These transactions pertain to assessment years 2023-24 and 2024-25, they said. The department and its policy-making body, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), suspect tax evasion and money laundering by certain "high-risk" people who are potentially using "unaccounted" income to invest in virtual digital assets (VDAs), commonly known as cryptocurrency. Sources told PTI that the I-T Department has sent e-mails to thousands of defaulting people nudging them to file an updated Income Tax Return (ITR) if any income on account of crypto transactions has not been declared or mis-declared by them. This communication is part of the NUDGE (Non-intrusive Usage of Data to Guide and Enable) campaign undertaken by the department with a philosophy of "trust taxpayers first" philosophy. According to section 115BBH of the Income Tax Act (provided by the Finance Act of 2022), a flat tax rate of 30 per cent (plus applicable surcharge and cess) is levied on income from crypto transfers. The provision does not allow deduction of any expenses except the cost of acquisition. Further, set-off of losses from crypto investment or trading is not allowed to be set off against any other income or for carry forward to subsequent years. Sources indicated that data analytics done by the tax department has shown that a "significant" number of people have not filed the Schedule VDA (for crypto) in their ITRs, and such people were offering tax on the income earned at a lower rate or claiming cost indexation. It is understood that the ITRs filed by taxpayers are being verified by the department with tax deducted at source (TDS) returns filed by various cryptocurrency exchanges (Virtual Asset Service Providers), and the defaulters may be selected for further "verification or scrutiny". This is the third in the NUDGE series campaign undertaken by the I-T Department and the CBDT, where they gently remind taxpayers about their liabilities. The previous two were related to seeking correct declarations on foreign assets and income by taxpayers and withdrawal of bogus claims of deduction under section 80GGC of the I-T Act. Visit here for all personal finance updates
