The government on Tuesday said it has received ₹60.46 crore as tax from entities for transactions in Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs), including cryptocurrencies, since the TDS provisions came into force in July.
The government had imposed 30% income tax plus surcharge and cess on transfer of crypto assets such as bitcoin, ethereum, tether and dogecoin from April 1.
Also, to keep an eye on the money trail, 1% Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) under section 194S of the IT Act was brought in on payments above ₹10,000 for virtual digital currencies from July 1.
In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chowdhary said that the CBDT conducts outreach/awareness programs for deductors/taxpayers and also takes appropriate action including search and seizure operations, surveys, inquiries etc. as required.
“After the insertion of section 194S in the Income Tax Act, 1961 through the Finance Act, 2022, a total of 318 direct tax invoices with TDS code 194S have been received, amounting to Rs 60.46 crore,” Choudhary said.
Under the Income Tax Act, 1961, section 194S has been inserted vide Finance Act, 2022 for deduction of tax at source in respect of transfer of VDA, which is to be complied with by any person engaged in transaction relating to VDA .
The minister further said that currently, crypto assets are unregulated in India and the government does not register foreign crypto exchanges.
“Crypto assets are borderless by definition and international cooperation is needed to prevent regulatory arbitrage,” he said.