Most of the Indian Crypto Exchanges like CoinSwitch Kuber, CoinDCX, and others have been investigated by tax authorities in the country. This is because they have been alleged of tax evasion worth Rs. 40.5 crore, or $6 million, which was detected solely by cryptocurrency exchange WazirX, according to sources that have a direct and clear knowledge of the searches that took place.
The investigation took place on the 30th of December, with a team of officers from the CGST Mumbai East Zone, the financial capital’s tax authorities, recovering the cash from the cryptocurrency exchanges.
Indian Crypto Exchanges In A Whole Host of Trouble
On the 31st of December, the tax authority put forward the details in a statement, stating that the cast has been a part of the special anti-tax evasion drive, which does rely intensively on data analytics and data mining, which has been initiated by the CGST Mumbai Zone, and it seems the Indian Crypto Exchanges have fallen short of the line drawn in the sand. The agency has further warned that it would be covering every single cryptocurrency exchange that falls in the Mumbai zone whilst intensifying the drive in the upcoming days.
WazirX, which is owned by Binance, went on to blame a distinct lack of clarity in the regulation that has been involved in the matter, stating that it has been diligently paying its GST, worth tens of crores of rupees, every single month. One of the largest Indian Crypto exchanges also stated that there has been a massive ambiguity in the interpretation of one of the components which have led to a completely different calculation in the amount of GST that has been paid. However, the exchange has been voluntarily paying extra GST in order to be compliant and cooperative.
Six of the Indian crypto exchanges were searched by the Mumbai Tax Authority, along with the DGGI, the national law enforcement agency under the Ministry of Finance.
