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India’s finance minister had announced 30% tax on all crypto income including NFTs
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Tax chief JB Mohapatra says the move is not tantamount to legalizing crypto trading in the country.
India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech on Tuesday included a provision for 30% tax on crypto income, prompting reactions from the crypto community across the country. signal recognition For crypto assets.
But in a statement made after the budget speech, JB Mohapatra, chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), clarified that this approach may be wrong.
According to the CBDT boss, the move by the Ministry of Finance to tax cryptocurrencies should not be taken to mean that trading in these digital assets is officially legal.
He added that taxing crypto trades under the new laws has nothing to do with their legality.
“Just because you paid tax on it, crypto doesn’t really become legal or regular,” Mohapatra said in the interview.
He said the move to introduce taxes widens the tax bracket and gives taxmen an additional net for targeting potential fraud and other illegal activities.
Despite this obvious advantage, he explained, only a proper regulatory framework on cryptocurrencies can spell the legality or otherwise of trading the asset class.
India will launch its own central bank digital currency in the next year or two, even as it tries to bring private cryptocurrencies under government regulation.