Income Tax Return Forms From Next Year Will Have Separate Column For Income From Cryptocurrency, Says Revenue Secretary

Giving details, Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said the gains from cryptocurrencies were always taxable and what the Budget proposed is not a new tax but providing certainty over the issue.

Income Tax Return Latest Update: A day after the Budget announcement on Income Tax Returns, Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj on Wednesday said the income tax return forms from next year will have a separate column for incomes made from cryptocurrencies. “Next year ITR form will show a separate column for crypto. Yes, you will have to disclose,” he said.

Giving details to news agency PTI, Bajaj said the gains from cryptocurrencies were always taxable and what the Budget proposed is not a new tax but providing certainty over the issue.

“The provision in the Finance Bill is related to taxation of virtual digital assets. It is to bring certainty in taxation of cryptocurrencies. It does not convey anything on its legality which would come out once the Bill (on regulating such assets) is introduced in Parliament,” he said.

Moreover, the Central government will from April 1 charge a 30 per cent tax plus cess and surcharges on such transactions in the same manner as it treats winnings from horse races or other speculative transactions.

As per the updates, the Centre is also working on legislation to regulate cryptocurrencies, but no draft has yet been released publicly.

It must be noted that the launch of ‘Digital Rupee’ by RBI as well as a 30 per cent tax from April 1 on profits from digital asset transactions, including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech on Tuesday.

Bajaj further added that the Centre was clear that it has to push for a tax on income from crypto assets. “So we have brought in maximum rate and levied 30 per cent, with an applicable surcharge. We have also brought in TDS, so we will now track the transactions,” Bajaj said.

The Budget 2022-23 also proposed a 1 per cent TDS on payments towards virtual currencies beyond Rs 10,000 in a year and taxation of such gifts in the hands of the recipient. The threshold limit for TDS would be Rs 50,000 a year for specified persons, which include individuals/HUFs who are required to get their accounts audited under the I-T Act.

The provisions related to 1 per cent TDS will come into effect from July 1, 2022, while the gains will be taxed effective April 1.

As per the updates, the crypto market in India grew 641 per cent in the year through June 2021, according to an October report by industry research firm Chainalysis.

“It was always taxable, I am not saying it’s not a new tax, I’m bringing certainty in tax. Now if you show crypto in the ITR form, you will have separate head crypto and it will charge you 30 per cent tax,” he said, adding that the message behind the Budget announcement is that crypto is taxable.