India’s tax authority has issued 100,000 tax notices to cryptocurrency investors that it suspects have not declared profits.
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman Sushil Chandra said last week: “People who have made investments [in the digital currencies] and have not declared income while filing taxes, and have not paid tax on the profit earned by investing, we are sending them notices as we feel that it is all taxable.”
According to The Times of India, Chandra confirmed the Income Tax Department had carried out surveys into cryptocurrency exchanges to find out how many people are regular contributors and how many had registered and traded on such platforms.
“We found there is no clarity on investments made by many people, which means that they have not declared it properly,” he said.
The tax notices are the Indian government’s latest move in an ongoing crackdown on trading in Bitcoin and other virtual currencies. Finance minister Arun Jaitley used his budget speech on 1 February to say the government does not consider cryptocurrencies legal tender. He also warned it would take “all measures to stop the use of crypto-assets to finance illegitimate activities”.
A panel, set up by the government to investigate issues surrounding digital currencies, is expected to report back before 31 March.
Gill Oliver is a business and property journalist who has written for The Daily Mail/Mail Online's This is Money, The Press Association and many national and regional newspapers and magazines.
India’s tax authority has issued 100,000 tax notices to cryptocurrency investors that it suspects have not declared profits.
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman Sushil Chandra said last week: “People who have made investments [in the digital currencies] and have not declared income while filing taxes, and have not paid tax on the profit earned by investing, we are sending them notices as we feel that it is all taxable.”
According to The Times of India, Chandra confirmed the Income Tax Department had carried out surveys into cryptocurrency exchanges to find out how many people are regular contributors and how many had registered and traded on such platforms.
“We found there is no clarity on investments made by many people, which means that they have not declared it properly,” he said.
The tax notices are the Indian government’s latest move in an ongoing crackdown on trading in Bitcoin and other virtual currencies. Finance minister Arun Jaitley used his budget speech on 1 February to say the government does not consider cryptocurrencies legal tender. He also warned it would take “all measures to stop the use of crypto-assets to finance illegitimate activities”.
A panel, set up by the government to investigate issues surrounding digital currencies, is expected to report back before 31 March.
Gill Oliver is a business and property journalist who has written for The Daily Mail/Mail Online's This is Money, The Press Association and many national and regional newspapers and magazines.
