{"id":14328,"date":"2026-05-27T07:41:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/glossary\/crypto-tax-in-india\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T07:41:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:41:16","slug":"crypto-tax-in-india","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/glossary\/crypto-tax-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Crypto Tax in India"},"content":{"rendered":"

Crypto tax in India<\/a> became explicitly defined in the Union Budget 2022, effective from April 1, 2022. All Virtual Digital Assets<\/a> (VDAs), including cryptocurrencies and NFTs, are tax<\/a>ed at a flat rate of 30% on gains, with no deductions allowed except the cost of acquisition. A 1% TDS<\/a> applies on transactions above specified thresholds.<\/p>\n

Key Crypto Tax Rules in India<\/h2>\n

**Tax rate on gains: 30% flat**<\/p>\n

– All profits from selling, swapping, or spending crypto are taxed at 30%
\n– No benefit of lower tax slabs, no deduction for losses, no deduction for trading<\/a> fees
\n– Holding period does not matter; short-term and long-term gains are both taxed at 30%<\/p>\n

**Losses cannot be offset**<\/p>\n

– Losses in crypto cannot be set off against gains from other crypto or any other income
\n– Losses cannot be carried forward to future years<\/p>\n

**1% TDS**<\/p>\n

– 1% TDS is deducted at source on transactions above Rs 50,000 per year (Rs 10,000 for certain specified persons)
\n– Exchange-to-exchange and wallet-to-wallet transfers may also attract TDS in certain interpretations
\n– TDS is creditable against final tax liability<\/p>\n

**Gifts received in crypto**<\/p>\n

– Crypto received as a gift is taxable as income in the hands of the receiver, except from specified relatives<\/p>\n

What Counts as a Taxable Event?<\/h2>\n

– Selling crypto for INR
\n– Swapping one crypto for another
\n– Spending crypto to buy goods or services
\n– Receiving crypto as income (staking rewards, mining, airdrops)<\/p>\n

Reporting<\/h2>\n

Crypto gains must be reported in the income tax<\/a> return under the VDA schedule, irrespective of the amount.<\/p>\n

Practical Example<\/h2>\n

Vivek bought 1 BTC at Rs 20 lakh in 2021 and sold it at Rs 30 lakh in 2023, a gain of Rs 10 lakh. Tax = Rs 10 lakh x 30% = Rs 3 lakh. During the year, he also lost Rs 2 lakh on altcoin<\/a> trades. The altcoin loss cannot be offset against his BTC gain. His total tax liability is Rs 3 lakh.<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n

– Crypto gains in India are taxed at a flat 30% rate under the VDA framework (no slab benefit)
\n– No deduction for losses, trading fees, or other expenses<\/a> except cost of acquisition
\n– Crypto losses cannot be set off against other income or crypto gains; no carry-forward allowed
\n– 1% TDS applies on qualifying transactions on recognised exchanges
\n– All taxable events (selling, swapping, spending) must be reported in the income tax return<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Crypto tax in India became explicitly defined in the Union Budget 2022, effective from April 1, 2022. All Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs), including cryptocurrencies and NFTs, are taxed at a flat rate of 30% on gains, with no deductions allowed except the cost of acquisition. A 1% TDS applies on transactions above specified thresholds. Key […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14328","glossary","type-glossary","status-publish","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"web-stories-poster-portrait":false,"web-stories-publisher-logo":false,"web-stories-thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Team Lemonn","author_link":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/author\/ashu\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Crypto tax in India became explicitly defined in the Union Budget 2022, effective from April 1, 2022. All Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs), including cryptocurrencies and NFTs, are taxed at a flat rate of 30% on gains, with no deductions allowed except the cost of acquisition. A 1% TDS applies on transactions above specified thresholds. Key…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/14328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/glossary"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/14328\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}