CoinDCX Report Claims Lower TDS on Crypto Could Improve Compliance, Tax Transparency

CoinDCX has released a report that attempts to highlight issues with India's crypto tax policies, while seeking reforms from the government in order to improve compliance and tax transparency in the country. The FIU-registered crypto exchange is the latest of many firms that have attempted to appeal to the government to reduce the taxes on cryptocurrencies in the country — including the one percent tax deducted at source (TDS) for crypto transactions, and 30 percent tax levied on incomes generated by crypto activities.

In its report titled 'Redesigning TDS for Transparency and Compliance', the Indian crypto firm claims that the one percent TDS on all crypto transactions was initially envisioned as a transparency and compliance tool but its application is not aligned with the nature of digital asset markets, spelling losses for the industry players and participators.

“A large body of modern economic literature suggests that the marginal tax rate is inversely correlated with reported income and positively correlated with evasion, as observed with the imposition of one percent TDS on VDAs in India," the firm said in the report.

According to CoinDCX's latest report, a study of India's crypto tax regime revealed that individuals who have evaded taxes in the past may have done so because of the higher marginal tax rate. The firm also claims that the one percent TDS has led to a 90 percent drop in trading volumes, which would lead to a drop in income for investors.

This is not the first time that crypto firms and related organisations have asked the government to lower the taxes on crypto transactions in India. Earlier this year, social media posts sought lower the 30 percent tax levied on incomes generated by crypto activities and lower the TDS rate of one percent to 0.01 percent.

These requests were made before Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the interim budget for this year, which did not introduce any changes to the crypto tax regime.

The finalised budget will be announced after the ongoing general elections, but it is currently unclear whether any new changes related to taxes on crypto activities will arrive in the coming months.

CoinDCX and the Bharat Web3 Association have urged the government to consider a revision in crypto TDS.

“For revenue collection, a tax rate of between 0.01 percent and 0.05 percent should be sufficient to collect all income tax due from market makers, while allowing market makers to maintain competitive spreads. Alternatively, a scheme can be introduced that does not provide for withholding tax on transactions, such as Annual Information Returns (AIR), which in combination with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 (PMLA) can ensure sufficient oversight,” the firm states in its report.

Gadgets360 has reached out to the finance ministry for comment on the report, and this article will be updated with a response when it is received.