Cryptocurrency tax: Budget proposal spurs talk of legality, 'grey area'

Union Budget proposes taxing income from the transfer of virtual assets at 30%; FM says central bank will issues its own digital currency.

The government has said it doesn’t treat trading in crypto assets as illegal, a day after it announced taxing such transactions just the same as winnings from gambling.

“They are in a grey area. It’s not illegal to buy and sell crypto,” Finance Secretary T V Somanathan said in an interview to Bloomberg Television. “We have now put in a taxation framework that treats crypto assets the same way we treat winnings from horse races, or from bets and other speculative transactions.”

Here is more to know about the government’s thinking on crypto assets.

“Digital payments will be regulated, much like standard currency