February 3, 2022
Only two days after India decided to levy a 30% tax on income generated from crypto assets, Indian crypto investors have begun a movement on Twitter asking the government to reduce the tax which they deem to be unreasonable.
Here is what you need to know:
- On Thursday, a petition “Government of India: Introduce Reasonable Crypto Policies” on Change.org was floated on Twitter asking the Indian government to lower the tax because crypto-assets cannot be compared to speculative industries like gambling (#CryptoisNotGambling).
- As a result, #reducecryptotax was one of the most trending subjects on Twitter with more than 100,000 tweets as of Thursday evening urging the Indian authorities to reassess and lower the crypto tax. More than 17,000 people have signed the petition.
- Such policy about-turns are not unfamiliar in the industry, they say. Earlier this week, Thailand scrapped its 15% withholding tax on crypto after a backlash from the industry and amid concerns that a high tax rate could run the risk of hurting the crypto industry.
- The Twitteratis were demanding that the 30% tax should be reduced and losses should be allowed to carry forward and tax deducted at source (TDS) on crypto transactions be removed.
- Despite the outcry over the high tax rate, many crypto industry experts have told Blockchain Asset Review that the new tax regime on cryptos is a positive development and it might potentially pave way for the nascent industry to be regulated. Most crypto players, however, are unimpressed with the new rules even though the industry has received some form of recognition from the government.
- Indian authorities have said that the announcement of the new tax regime on cryptos does not mean the legalization of crypto in India and that the tax rules would allow the government and the relevant authorities to measure the scale of the crypto industry.
About the author
Tsering Namgyal is the chief content officer of Blockchain Asset Review. While not writing and editing crypto stories, he likes to work on fiction.
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