According to reports released on Friday, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has introduced a capital gains tax of 30% on cryptocurrency transactions.
To add, Indians buying or selling crypto will have to pay a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS), as well as taxes on crypto gifts. The bill states that users are not able to take deductions for any losses.
The crypto taxes will come into effect on April 1, while the TDS will start on July 1.
The bill was initially proposed in Feburary but was met with heavy backlash by Indians, calling for changes to the imposed policy.
The bill was met with criticism in the government, 20+ members of the lower house of Parliment criticized the lack of definition of the word cryptocurrency in the bill arguing that this would “finish the industry”. Criticisers were met with a sharp response that “there is no confusing signal”.
Sitharaman states the main reason for the tax is because people are profiting from it. Despite this Indians are still not able to take deductions for any losses.
Many cryptocurrency companies and users are considering filing an appeal to the Indian Supreme Court.