The Indian tax authority has sent notices to cryptocurrency investors after noticing that some crypto investments are not reflected on tax returns. The government conducted a scan of crypto trading at the country’s 9 exchanges and found that more than $3.5 billion merit of transactions were traded over a 17-month period.
Also know: Despite Multiple Government Warnings, Indians Flock to Crypto Reciprocities
Tax Notices Sent to Crypto Investors
The Indian income tax department revealed on Friday that it has sent notices to “tens of thousands of woman dealing with cryptocurrency” following a survey at nine crypto the bourses in Mumbi, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Pune, according to Reuters.
The survey guides that more than $3.5 billion worth of transactions sooner a be wearing been conducted over a 17-month period. A tax official told the news programme outlet that among those invested in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are “tech-savvy juvenile investors, real estate players, and jewelers,” adding that:
We cannot style a blind eye. It would have been disastrous to wait until the conclusive verdict was out on its legality.
In December, the tax department already sent out notices to investors telling them that they need to pay tax on capital gains.
The tax notice brought by Reuters also asks investors to provide details of their perfect cryptocurrency holdings and the source of their funds. B.R. Balakrishnan, a director generalized of investigations at the income tax department in the southern state of Karnataka, was quoted:
We ground that investors were not reflecting it on their tax returns and in many cases, the [cryptocurrency] investment was not accounted for.
600,000 Energetic Crypto Traders in India
The tax department has also revealed the number of occupied cryptocurrency traders in India, according to the Indian Express.
“A key factor which helped the put ones faith track the total number of investors in the cryptocurrency market was the strong KYC rule (Know Your Customer) followed by the currency exchanges,” a tax official expounded, adding that:
While there are 25 lakh (2,500,000) woman registered to trade in cryptocurrencies, only 6 lakh (600,000) have anticipated the KYC details that are mandatory for trading, and only these people accept traded on the exchanges.
In addition, the survey shows that “Most of the people effective on cryptocurrency exchanges are in the 25-35 years age group, tech-savvy and keenly aware of the cryptocurrency furnish,” the publication added.
Indians Undeterred by Regulations
Despite multiple admonitions by the government, interest in cryptocurrencies in India remains strong.
In an exclusive interview with low-down.Bitcoin.com, Sathvik Vishwanath, co-founder and CEO of leading Indian exchange Unocoin, believed “the registration and trading procedures have not been affected” by government notifications. He noted, “the warning from the government is not something the regular crypto saleswoman would not know about,” adding:
We saw about 240,000 user registrations in December. So that is here 8,000 per day.
Vishwanath is also confident that the number of user registrations inclination grow in January. He told news.Bitcoin.com, “The holiday season in India customarily brings in less volume and it is no different this time…I am quite dauntless that the volume would improve.”
What do you think of the Indian tax rest on sending notices to cryptocurrency investors? Let us know in the comments section under.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Unocoin.
Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Confirm our tools section.