Why I'm Not Worried About The I-T Notice to Bitcoin HNIs in India!
Ever since I began writing and sharing about the environment surrounding cryptocurrencies in India; people ask me on daily basis about Income Taxes surrounding cryptos and possibility of running into an issue with the I-T department in India.
The fact is that there's not a lot that I-T department can do other than behaving like thugs and coming after your hard earned crypto savings in an aggressive manner. Their notice to HNIs investing in cryptos from India had a number of points that can be considered an invasion of privacy and the right to earn a legitimate income-atleast in my opinion. There maybe bad actors for sure trying to scam people of their money, but then that's just a tiny % of the users in this domain.
Over the past couple of weeks I've discovered from my sources that those who have received these notices have drafted their responses to the I-T department. However, a few have drafted responses similar to that reported by ET.
People are claiming not to have owned any crypto, or that their wallets were hacked, or the crypto they en-cashed was a consulting income they received overseas or income received for freelancing. These are some of the responses I've heard. I'm not against paying income tax and infact I have been doing this for years and in the last few I've declared my gains from any crypto sale.
However, the fact that the government chooses to go aggressively after crypto investors while ensuring no regulations are in place to protect interests of investors from India has many fuming, myself included. The obvious knee-jerk reaction is that people will evade paying taxes to prevent the government from ripping them off by forcing heavy taxes on investments without a proper policy in place.
If the government drafts a proper framework legalising cryptocurrencies in India, many of these issues are likely to fade away with time and I'm sure many users may be willing to come forth and pay the taxes due. The tax department sent notices to 500,000 HNI's demanding answers to over 20 tough questions. It is nothing short of harassment by the government agency tasked with the job of ensuring people pay their taxes.
India is a land full of direct and in-direct taxes and in such a scenario where we pay taxes through our nose. People are unlikely to bend over backwards and oblige just because a government rooted in corruption demands us to reveal all the information about our wealth.
The banks are also hand-in-glove with the government when it comes to charging exorbitant fees to their customers.
On the bright side, there is no ban on crypto sale/purchase nor do the exchanges here have any restrictions other than mandatory KYC of all their clients.
I close this post by sharing something a friend shared on my FB wall:
In India:
Putting money in Bank: KYC Required.
Putting money in MFs: KYC Required.
Putting money in Online Wallets: KYC Required.
Putting money in Political Parties:
KYC NOT Required.
(Know your Clever) Politicians.
This is the current state of affairs in India and more the reason why we need a crypto revolution. In the meantime, dont panic and know your rights. File your returns and have a good auditor assist you in the same. Read my report in TheQuint on how to file your taxes to account for any crypto-gains. Good luck!
If you like my work kindly resteem it to your friends. You may also continue reading my recent posts which might interest you:
- Let's Talk—My Tryst With Bitcoin in 2009 and What Happened Next!
- 4 Tips For Steemit Account Recovery & Wallet Security!
- Steemit.Chat Contest #11 + Contest #10 Winners Announcement!
Address: The world, every country, every region, every city, every community. | Phone: 469-71-ARISE | Web: arisebank.com
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xcC1DPY_6IZevRMAeAyDZ_Aa1lb2xzoZ/view
Whoa! Thank you for pointing me to this. Will look into this in greater detail! :D
This is the kind of response that needs to go out!
I just love reading that response to the officials. That's exactly the stand that should be taken.
Thanks for this informative post I think government shouldn't come after minnows who try to make their ends meet my trading a few cryptos & doing some freelance work. They already failed miserably to provide jobs for the youth, there is no way government can track gains on cryptos and tax will come to picture only when it is withdrawn to bank account.
Government should go after people who are trying to send a large amount of money out of India as cryptos but again they will have enough money to fight this legally. I pay my taxes even though they loot me and don't utilize it properly. If Government is envy of crypto growth then they should collaborate wit crypto companies, for example CIVIC project will be better than AADHAR which is a mess with privacy of people. The government which is open to blockchain & cryptos will boom!
Government should (perhaps) regulate weights and measure. And (perhaps) provide for a collective enforcement of contracts. Other than that, it is nothing but a leech, bloodsucking, self-serving encroachment upon free individuals transacting freely in free markets to gain above-market returns for themselves and their cronies by enforcing monopolies.
It is very kind of you dude.
Thanks for upvote
God bless you.
I am also afraid of now to convert my cryptos back to INR. I am a freelancer and paying heavy taxes here is not any good for me. First proper laws should be implemented, then we can pay taxes accordingly. Resteemed your post for better reach. Keep on sharing these wonderful and hard to get articles about cryptos on India.
Find cash business owners you can trust that want to invest in crypto.
Convert your crypt to whatever they want; I usually recommend transactions in LTC or ETH for speed.
If you have to, show them how to use a wallet too..
In India no exchange accepts other than ETH or Bitcoin, so it is really difficult to exchange here.
As always a wonderful post Meghan. Well, it is pitty how things work up here but then I feel we are still better if I hear what’s happening around. India is developing and you know how scams and black money hovers like dark clouds in our country. I hope soon the govt. comes with some kind of framework to curb all these issues. Right now there are other fishes to fry for them as I saw aadhaar bank connection and mobile connection is not not yet resolved. Moreover the impacts of demonetisation and confusion over GST still surrounds 😂😂
I dont know why government is so silent when SBI looted 1100 crores of the hard earned money from the people in the name of 'zero balance'.
Thanks for good post. We should pay tax but should not fear from IT department.
Thanks for info @firepower ..tax matters are very confusing in india
Specially in india
Politicians are a joke bro.. It's the biggest reality show put on by fucking puppets.
The real bosses are always hidden. :)
Nice currency
money transfer make money
The problem here is that we cant all think in same direction
Wow,,,amazing post,, good job and good luck.