When you trade, sell, or earn cryptocurrency in India, the India crypto tax rate, a flat 30% tax on profits from digital assets, with no deductions or loss carryforwards. Also known as cryptocurrency income tax, it applies whether you turn Bitcoin into rupees, swap tokens, or receive crypto as payment. Unlike stocks or real estate, there’s no exemption for long-term holdings. Even if you held your ETH for five years, the moment you sell it, you owe 30% of the profit. That’s not a rumor—it’s Section 115BBH of the Income Tax Act, enforced since April 2022.
The government doesn’t stop at gains. Every crypto transaction, even swapping one token for another, triggers a 1% TDS, a tax deducted at source by exchanges like WazirX or CoinDCX before you receive your funds. This is separate from the 30% capital gains tax. If you buy $1,000 worth of SOL and sell it for $1,200, you pay 30% on the $200 profit, and the exchange already took $10 as TDS. You can’t avoid TDS unless you trade peer-to-peer without using a registered exchange. But even then, you’re still liable for the 30% tax when you file your return. The Income Tax Department cross-checks bank statements, wallet addresses, and exchange data. Missing a transaction isn’t an oversight—it’s a red flag. And here’s what most people don’t realize: earning crypto from staking, airdrops, or mining? That’s treated as income, taxed at your full slab rate, not the 30% flat rate. If you’re in the 30% tax bracket, you pay 30% on your airdropped tokens. If you’re in the 10% bracket, you pay 10%. There’s no special crypto tax bracket—just a 30% floor on gains.
Reporting is your responsibility. Exchanges don’t file your returns. You need to track every buy, sell, swap, and earn. Use a crypto tax tool or spreadsheet. Don’t rely on exchange summaries—they often miss internal transfers or off-platform trades. The government doesn’t care if you didn’t know the rules. They care if you didn’t pay. Over 2 million Indian taxpayers filed crypto income in 2024. That number is growing fast. And while some try to hide transactions using P2P platforms or foreign exchanges, the risk isn’t worth it. India’s tax authorities have tools to trace blockchain activity. The crypto reporting India, the requirement to declare all digital asset activity in your annual tax return under Schedule VDA. Also known as Virtual Digital Asset disclosure, it’s mandatory whether you made a profit or not.
What you’ll find below are real stories from Indian crypto users: how they handled their tax bills, what platforms they used, where they got stuck, and how they avoided penalties. Some lost money trying to hide trades. Others saved thousands by filing early. No fluff. No theory. Just what actually happened.
India taxes crypto at 31.2% with a 1% TDS and 18% GST on exchange fees. No deductions, no long-term discounts. Learn how it works, what's taxed, and how to comply in 2025.
