As a seasoned crypto investor with roots deeply entrenched in India’s bustling financial landscape, I find myself intrigued by the recent developments regarding GST evasion by major cryptocurrency exchanges. Having navigated through the labyrinthine Indian tax system for decades, it comes as no surprise that authorities have uncovered substantial amounts of unpaid taxes.
It’s been found that major digital currency platforms like Binance and WazirX have failed to pay substantial amounts of Goods and Services Tax (GST), as reported by the Indian government.
According to a report by The Economic Times on December 3rd, India’s Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, stated that the government has discovered approximately 824 crore Indian rupees (equivalent to around $97 million USD) in unpaid Goods and Services Tax (GST) from several cryptocurrency exchanges.
It seems that several probes concerning cryptocurrency trading platforms, such as WazirX, CoinDCX, and CoinSwitch Kuber, are said to have been launched by the authorities.
A while ago, the report emerged following Indian authorities’ call for approximately $85 million owed in back taxes from Binance, which occurred in August.
India recovers 14% of unpaid GST from WazirX and others
According to a recent report by Chaudhary, the Indian government has so far managed to collect approximately 122.3 crore rupees (equivalent to $14 million) through taxes, fines, and interest during this ongoing enforcement action, as per his response to a parliamentary query on December 2nd.
17 crypto firms have been identified as being implicated in tax evasion under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), with WazirX, CoinDCX, and CoinSwitch Kuber owing approximately 40.5 crore INR ($4.8 million), 16.84 crore INR ($1.9 million), and 14.13 crore INR ($1.7 million) in unpaid GST taxes respectively.
With penalties and interest, WazirX has paid 20% more than the GST amount it was accused of not paying, or 49.18 crore rupees ($5.8 million).
Binance hasn’t paid the penalty, according to Chaudhary
Many businesses from the list have already covered their fines, but entities such as Binance and Hyperux Technologies are still in discussions with the regulatory bodies, as stated by Chaudhary.
It seems that Binance has not yet recouped the 722 crore rupees owed in GST taxes, as this amount is not part of the 122.3 crore rupees they’ve already recovered.
Binance maintains open lines of communication with regulatory bodies, regularly participating in required meetings to tackle any issues or queries that may arise. The company remains active and collaborative, pledging to handle all relevant tax-related investigations diligently,” a representative from Binance confirmed to CryptoMoon.
A representative from WazirX stated that the tax evasion incident happened because the specifics of how GST (Goods and Services Tax) applies to cryptocurrencies were unclear in India at the time.
To add on, Chaudhary pointed out that India has recognized a total of 47 digital asset service providers as obligated entities within their Anti-Money Laundering regulations, overseen by the Financial Intelligence Unit.
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2024-12-04 16:59