The Indian government has added new cryptocurrency tax penalties, such as those for failing to pay cryptocurrency tax withheld at source (TDS).
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman failed to mention cryptocurrency in this year’s budget address, much to the dismay of the industry.
Cryptocurrency revenue is still subject to a 30% tax rate and a 1% TDS.
One day after delivering this year’s Economic Survey, which emphasised the need for “a consistent approach to regulating the crypto ecosystem,” Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivered the Union Budget 2023 in parliament on Wednesday.
The Indian crypto community was disappointed that Sitharaman did not mention cryptocurrency during her Budget speech.
The CEO of the Indian cryptocurrency exchange Unocoin, Sathvik Vishwanath, wrote: “This time, neither blockchain nor cryptocurrency were mentioned in the budget.
The vice president of the cryptocurrency exchange Wazirx, Rajagopal Menon, expressed the opinion that “Indian crypto enterprises are on the Stairway to Heaven” because the Indian Union Budget 2023 made no modifications to the current crypto taxation.
The Indian government has instituted cryptocurrency tax penalties.
The Finance Bill purportedly contains a change to the Income Tax Act that applies to crypto TDS, despite the fact that the finance minister did not mention cryptocurrency in her Budget speech.
A joint commissioner would issue a fine equal to the underpaid TDS for failure to deduct or pay crypto TDS, according to cryptocurrency tax service Koinx, who also noted that late payments will incur a 15% interest charge annually.
India Today claims that failing to pay TDS on cryptocurrency transactions can result in a seven-year prison sentence.
When using P2P or other methods, users or crypto exchanges have had the responsibility of deducting TDS, but there has never been a penalty for failing to do so.
In India, cryptocurrency trading volumes fell after Sitharaman said last year that crypto revenue will be taxed at a rate of 30% and that a 1% TDS would be applied to all transactions.