India’s Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) on Saturday raided major cryptocurrency exchanges. Their offices were searched and “large scale Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion has been detected by the DGGI.”
Tax officials say cryptocurrency exchanges are evading GST tax
India’s Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) on Saturday raided major cryptocurrency exchanges across the country. Quoting official sources, ANI news agency detailed:
Nearly half a dozen offices of cryptocurrency service providers have been searched and large-scale Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion has been unearthed by DGGI.
According to sources, officials are investigating Coinswitch Kuber (Bitcipher Labs), Coindcx (Neblio Technologies), Buyucoin (Iblock Technologies), and Unocoin (Unocoin Technologies). The publication reported that the crackdown uncovered tax evasion of approximately Rs 70 crore ($9.4 million).
The raids came after the discovery of a huge GST tax evasion of Rs 40.5 crore by cryptocurrency exchange Wazirx on Friday. The officials later recovered Rs 49.20 crore in cash related to GST evasion, interest and penalty from the exchange.
Noting that cryptocurrency exchanges charge a commission for facilitating the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies, official sources emphasized:
These services attract GST at the rate of 18% GST, which all of them have been avoiding.
Another official source, who was part of the discovery, told the publication, “These transactions were intercepted by DGGI and they were presented with evidence that proved non-payment of GST.”
According to the publication, crypto exchanges later paid Rs 30 crore and Rs 40 crore as GST, interest and penalty for non-compliance with the statutory provisions of the GST law. In addition, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has recovered Rs 70 crore from them.
What do you think about the raids on crypto exchanges by Indian authorities for tax evasion? Let us know in the comments section below.
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