Taxation of 30% on gains from Bitcoin investment?

[Wysi]

If the source is true then Indian investors have to find an alternative or just switch to DEX as Indian government might impose tax of 30% on gaina from Bitcoin investment. I don't think this will work and even if there is a tax bracket it should be much lesser because Bitcoin and crypto are not like any other business as people might end up losing their capital in crypto investment. I think government shouldn't be rushing to tax on crypto without understanding the concept of crypto as taxing on gains would be like a planned extortion.

[ranochigo]

Taxation on capital gains is fairly common. Places without those taxes usually attracts billionaires so that their wealth will be taxed less significantly. Attempting to prove the extent of your capital gains would be an administrative nightmare, in terms of determining how much to tax so I don't expect most countries to start taxing cryptos yet. It's not that unfair to impose a high tax on capital gains though, IMO.

[Obi theo]

Like I always tell my close pals, not everyone is happy with the sudden rise in bitcoin,this 30% taxation by the India government is just to scare investors into crypto that just the summary of it all, not everyone is happy about it and 30% is too much for a tax  and if this continues believe it will push away investors both in India and anyway around the world....it so sad to here this

[kryptqnick]

If the source is true then Indian investors have to find an alternative or just switch to DEX as Indian government might impose tax of 30% on gaina from Bitcoin investment. I don't think this will work and even if there is a tax bracket it should be much lesser because Bitcoin and crypto are not like any other business as people might end up losing their capital in crypto investment. I think government shouldn't be rushing to tax on crypto without understanding the concept of crypto as taxing on gains would be like a planned extortion.

I think 30% taxation is unfair and just too much. I don't know about other countries, but it's a fact that in mine people give about half of their money as taxes for the needs of the state on average (this is because there are different taxes to pay, including VAT which is incorporated into every price of every thing), so it's already a huge chunk of money going mainly (in my country) into the pockets of those in power. I think reasonable low crypto taxes (how about 5%?) could be both something the state could benefit from AND something people would actually pay rather than keep their coins a secret.

[100bitcoin]

If the source is true then Indian investors have to find an alternative or just switch to DEX as Indian government might impose tax of 30% on gaina from Bitcoin investment. I don't think this will work and even if there is a tax bracket it should be much lesser because Bitcoin and crypto are not like any other business as people might end up losing their capital in crypto investment. I think government shouldn't be rushing to tax on crypto without understanding the concept of crypto as taxing on gains would be like a planned extortion.

Care to share the source of this news? AFAIK, Bitcoin is only taxable when it is converted to FIAT. If they apply 30% on gain then how would people earning bitcoin be taxed?

[Lucius]

I don't think this will work and even if there is a tax bracket it should be much lesser because Bitcoin and crypto are not like any other business as people might end up losing their capital in crypto investment.

In many developed countries there is an income tax on BTC, you pay that tax only when you convert that crypto to fiat - and only if you make profit. If there is no profit, it is logical that you will not pay any taxes.

30% is a lot, but some countries have higher taxes - let's say Japan has up to 55%, and the rates depend on how much the profit is. As far as I know in the EU this tax is mostly 20-30%, with some countries having special laws on paying a tax rate of 0% if the crypto is kept for more than 1 or 2 years from purchase. I don't know why people are surprised by paying taxes on crypto earnings, crypto can't be exempted from all that if we want it to be accepted as something completely legal.

Care to share the source of this news?

I took 5 seconds of my time and found the source

[Question123]

If they want to tax bitcoin I think they need to tax only to the business related to the bitcoin that is located to their country.

30 percent is very big amount and It is not right how about those people who are earn a little only. They need to focus to the big business related to the bitcoin and get some taxes to them not all the small investors who earn small a lot of profit.

[RapTarX]

Care to share the source of this news? AFAIK, Bitcoin is only taxable when it is converted to FIAT. If they apply 30% on gain then how would people earning bitcoin be taxed?

Coindesk made the report and coinbase featured the news on their news section- https://www.coindesk.com/india-plans-to-tax-income-from-bitcoin-investments-report?amp=1
While it's good that our govt is giving a fuck to the crypto (it's good in many ways for crypto adoption in India), 30% is too much and indicating a negative outlook. Govt is discouraging investment in Crypto, reasonable though.

[Casdinyard]

Maybe this would work on third party networks, since it speaks for profit from investment which will more likely be determined upon converting your cryptos to fiat. Bitcoin and other cryptos are having a good run for this year and to how I view this, given that economies are struggling at this moment, they will hold to things which will generate money to suffice the needs of the economies and to avoid total crisis, perhaps in this case taxation or regulation to crypto investments. Trading was banned in India before and was recently pulled the decision to just regulate this technology in that area. People of this region won't be able to do anything from it unless there will be an alternative way for them to avoid being taxed whenever they will convert to fiat.

The question I am having is that, what if the market again become bearish? Will they still choose to regulate this technology or to again prohibit its usage? 'coz I think they just allowed the use of it in order to generate taxes on the opportunity this bullish market is having.

[Kupid002]

If the source is true then Indian investors have to find an alternative or just switch to DEX as Indian government might impose tax of 30% on gaina from Bitcoin investment. I don't think this will work and even if there is a tax bracket it should be much lesser because Bitcoin and crypto are not like any other business as people might end up losing their capital in crypto investment. I think government shouldn't be rushing to tax on crypto without understanding the concept of crypto as taxing on gains would be like a planned extortion.

Did the government think if you own a Bitcoin you are rich people? and earn a lot in there I think they need to invest first or make a seminar how this crypto currency works before asking  that much  tax ?  That too much tax to be asked for me the reasonable tax to pay is around ,10-12% that's actually too high but it's reasonable if they only ask that from gain of investors and not from the capital they use  to trade crypto currency.

[error08]

Fortunately, we don't have to deal with such a problem here, a nightmare of taxes on capital gains.
If there is a way to avoid taxes, better to stay away from local exchanges, trade on a foreign exchange like Binance, trade on decentralized exchange or peer to peer, and then withdraw in the form of digital currency such as skrill, paypal, etc.

[ChrisPop]

Whether we like it or not, taxes are a part of our current working society. Capital gains from any kind of investment should be treated equally in my opinion. I don't know what the tax rate for cap. gains is in India for equity instruments, but 30% is very high. This is not encouraging for investors.

What I suggest is to look to establish an outshore company if you have a big bag and maybe move residency there. Better talk to a tax consultant.

[acquafredda]

In Italy we have a very impossible to grasp taxation framework for cryptocurrencies. Capital gain taxes on bitcoin and other shitcoins is at 26%. The only good thing is that we only pay if we realize those gains but that is quite a huge price to pay to the gov.

[bryant.coleman]

If the source is true then Indian investors have to find an alternative or just switch to DEX as Indian government might impose tax of 30% on gaina from Bitcoin investment. I don't think this will work and even if there is a tax bracket it should be much lesser because Bitcoin and crypto are not like any other business as people might end up losing their capital in crypto investment. I think government shouldn't be rushing to tax on crypto without understanding the concept of crypto as taxing on gains would be like a planned extortion.

There are a lot of rumors and FUD related to the situation of Bitcoin in India. And everytime, these rumors were proved to be false. That said, I won't be much surprised if the government imposes a 30% tax on gains from Bitcoin. The highest tax bracket is 30% and gain from investment in unrecognized assets such as Bitcoin may fall within that slab. But you should not complain too much. In some of the other countries, the tax rate is much higher than this.

[coolcoinz]

30% is a ripoff, but it's also an unwise move by the government. Taxation should be high enough to sustain the basic needs of the central government, but also low enough to discourage evasion and moving abroad. IMO 10-15% tax is close to ideal. 30% is a joke. Poor people will hide their coins and rich people will move abroad to sell.

[wxa7115]

30% is a ripoff, but it's also an unwise move by the government. Taxation should be high enough to sustain the basic needs of the central government, but also low enough to discourage evasion and moving abroad. IMO 10-15% tax is close to ideal. 30% is a joke. Poor people will hide their coins and rich people will move abroad to sell.

I think the same I understand we have to pay taxes since the government needs funding but the taxes need to be as low as possible to encourage investment and to avoid evasion, but with a tax that is so high those that can move their lives abroad are going to move to jurisdictions where the taxes are low or zero while those that cannot do it are going to try to avoid detection by just making small transactions.

So I do not think the government of India is going to get a lot of money out of this as people are not going to comply and pay such a high tax when to their minds it is completely unjustified.

[biosupdate2020]

This is absolute shameful behavior on behalf of the India government. They are effectively banning/censoring technology through extreme taxation. It's so obvious, but it is hard for their citizens to react to because 1) Financial law is already convoluted and 2) It doesn't affect those who aren't interested in cryptography tech. Government overreach is the word I'm looking for. But I suppose it is par for the course in 2020. 

[JeromeTash]

AFAIK, Bitcoin is only taxable when it is converted to FIAT. If they apply 30% on gain then how would people earning bitcoin be taxed?

My guess is they won't give a fuck on how much gains one had made out of crypto; What they will do is monitor your trading activity through any KYC/AML compliant exchange and then tax 30% of what you convert to fiat.
Those who still use non-KYC p2p exchanges will still be able to evade this.

[AakZaki]

I just heard this, it might be difficult if applied in my country. As far as I know, cryptos participate as income tax and that too if it is reported. How did this happen? Will they cooperate with the exchange? This means that it has something to do with KYC, but it is also against prifasi. If I compare it to the tax code in my country, 30% is the tax for those who earn above - + $ 33,000. Maybe this is light for the whales but what about a small trader or a small minner, I think 30% is big.

[Twinkledoe]

I just heard this, it might be difficult if applied in my country. As far as I know, cryptos participate as income tax and that too if it is reported. How did this happen? Will they cooperate with the exchange? This means that it has something to do with KYC, but it is also against prifasi. If I compare it to the tax code in my country, 30% is the tax for those who earn above - + $ 33,000. Maybe this is light for the whales but what about a small trader or a small minner, I think 30% is big.

30% is big for small crypto users, for sure. Seems it is hard to implement if they will not tie up with their local crypto exchanges. If they want, they can already automatically tax those users whenever they make transaction with the exchange. But the exchange needs to be clear about this regulation and disclose it to their users. And also, some crypto users are using p2p platforms to exchange their crypto to fiat. So this area is still vague for me how they can define tax rules and be strict with it.