Cryptocurrency traders in India may face significant tax penalties on previously undisclosed profits under new amendments to the country’s tax laws. Cryptocurrencies will be included under Section 158B of the Income Tax Act, which reports undisclosed income, according to Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Union Budget 2025 announcement. The amendment allows cryptocurrency gains to be subject to block assessments if not reported, placing them under the same tax treatment as traditional assets like money, jewelry and bullion. Crypto will fall under the definition of Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs), according to the new amendment, which states: “Crypto asset has been defined in section 2(47A) of the Act under the existing definition of Virtual Digital Asset[…] A reporting entity, as may be prescribed under section 285BAA of the Act, will be required to furnish information of crypto asset.” The new crypto tax proposition will be retrospectively applicable from Feb. 1, 2025. At the end of December 2024, India’s Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, said the government had found 824 crore Indian rupees ($97 million) in unpaid goods and service taxes (GST) by several crypto exchanges. The report came a few months after Indian law enforcement agencies demanded 722 crore Indian rupees ($85 million) in unpaid […]