Crypto Tax India: What You Need to Know About Reporting Crypto in 2025
When you buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrency in India, the crypto tax India, the legal requirement to report and pay taxes on cryptocurrency gains under Indian income tax law. Also known as digital asset tax, it applies to every trade, airdrop, staking reward, or NFT sale — not just cashing out to INR. The rules aren’t optional. The Income Tax Department started tracking crypto transactions in 2022, and by 2025, they’re using bank data, exchange reports, and blockchain analytics to catch unreported income.
There’s no exemption for small trades. Even if you swapped 0.01 BTC for ETH, that’s a taxable event. You owe 30% tax, the flat rate applied to all cryptocurrency gains in India since April 2022, with no deductions for losses. No, you can’t offset losses from one coin against gains from another. And yes, that means if you bought SOL for ₹50,000 and sold it for ₹70,000, you pay ₹6,000 in tax — even if you lost ₹100,000 on other trades that year. The government treats crypto like gambling, not investing. Plus, there’s a 1% TDS on every crypto purchase over ₹10,000. That’s taken automatically by exchanges like WazirX or CoinDCX, but you still need to report the full amount in your ITR.
Staking rewards and airdrops? Also taxable. If you got 50 $CANDY tokens from TripCandy or 20.25 $MPAD from a CoinMarketCap campaign, the moment you receive them, they’re income. The value is based on INR price at the time of receipt. Same goes for mining, even if you’re just running a node. The Indian crypto regulations, the set of laws enforced by the Income Tax Department and RBI that require full disclosure of digital asset activity. don’t care if you didn’t sell. You still owe tax on the value when you got it.
And don’t assume foreign exchanges are safe. If you used Binance, KuCoin, or Bybit and sent crypto to your Indian wallet, that’s still reportable. The Indian government shares data with over 120 countries under CRS and FATCA. If your foreign exchange reports your activity, the tax department will know. Filing a nil return or ignoring crypto income? That’s a red flag. Penalties can hit up to 200% of the tax due — plus interest and legal trouble.
What’s in the posts below? Real examples of how Indian crypto users handled their taxes in 2024 — from simple buys and sells to complex DeFi staking and cross-border transfers. You’ll see how to track your transactions, what forms to fill, and which exchanges give you the right data. No theory. No fluff. Just what works for people filing ITR-3 in India right now.
How to Buy Crypto with Fiat in India: 2025 Step-by-Step Guide
Learn how to buy cryptocurrency with Indian rupees in 2025 using UPI, avoid tax traps, pick the best exchange, and stay secure. Step-by-step guide for beginners.
- November 12 2025
- Terri DeLange
- 18 Comments