NEW DELHI: The government has garnered Rs 60.40 crore via tax from entities that engaged in transactions of virtual digital assets (VDA) including cryptocurrencies since TDS (tax deducted at source) was imposed by the Centre on July 1, 2022, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha question.
“Post insertion of Section 194S in the Income-tax Act, 1961, through Finance Act, 2022, a total of 318 direct tax challans having TDS code 194S have been received having a total amount of Rs 60.46 crore,” Chaudhary said. The government had inserted Section 194S into the Income Tax Act of 1961, to specify the rules and regulations for the deduction of TDS with regard to transactions related to VDAs, including cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.
CBDT conducts outreach programmes for taxpayers and takes appropriate action as required under the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961, including search & seizure operations, surveys, enquiries etc, he added. “Currently, crypto assets are unregulated in India. These assets are by definition borderless and require global collaboration to prevent regulatory arbitrage. The government doesn’t register foreign crypto exchanges,” Chaudhary said.