Eleven leading Indian bitcoin exchanges, including CoinDCX and CoinSwitch, evaded sales tax and owe ₹95.86 crore (~$12.58m). The matter was disclosed in a letter to the upper house of Parliament by Finance Minister Pankaj Chaudhary, as reported by Newsroom Post.
Following the investigation, the platforms were assessed an additional ₹14.32 crore (~$1.88m) in fines, interest and penalties.
Specifically, violations by CoinDCX were valued at ₹15.7 crore (~$2.06m). The exchange has already paid the state ₹17.1 crore (~$2.24m) inclusive of additional charges. For CoinSwitch, these figures stood at ₹13.76 crore (~$1.81m) and ₹16.07 crore (~$2.11m), respectively.
As reported in March, the Indian Finance Ministry determined that when calculating taxes traders would not be able to offset losses in one digital asset with gains in another. From 1 April, the tax rate on profits from cryptocurrency transactions will be 30%.
Work on the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies has been under way in the country since 2018. In that time, authorities have sent mixed signals: from a complete ban, even with criminal liability, to possible regulation as assets.
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