GST Authorities detects Rs.824 Crore Tax Evasion by Binance and Other Crypto Firms

The government discovered GST evasion worth Rs.824.14 crore by crypto exchanges such as Binance, WazirX, CoinDCX, and CoinSwitch Kuber, but recovered only Rs.122.29 crore, including interest and penalty, according to a written reply in Parliament by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary on Monday.

M/s Nest Services Limited, a Binance group company, was responsible for the largest amount of GST evasion, totalling Rs 722.43 crore, however the finance ministry has yet to collect any funds.

WazirX, managed by M/s Zanmai Labs Pvt. Ltd, evaded GST of Rs.40.51 crore, from which the government recovered Rs.49.18 crore, including interest and penalties. CoinDCX and CoinSwitch Kuber evaded Rs.16.84 crore and Rs.14.13 crore, respectively, with recoveries of Rs.20.86 crore from CoinDCX and Rs.19.38 crore from CoinSwitch Kuber.

The investigation went beyond exchanges, with four investors in virtual digital assets being questioned about tax compliance. Authorities discovered Rs 1.76 crore worth of GST evasion and successfully collected Rs.2.40 crore, including penalties and interest.

The finance ministry stated that 47 Virtual Digital Asset Service Providers (VDA SPs) had been registered as reporting organizations with the Financial Intelligence Unit-India under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act of 2002.

Income from cryptocurrency transactions is taxed at a flat rate of 30%, with a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on transactions above Rs.50,000 per year.

Cryptocurrencies are categorized as Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs) under Section 2(47A) of the Income Tax Act, which includes the majority of crypto assets excepts gift cards and vouchers.