Indian tax authorities have raided around half a dozen of the country’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges under the suspicion of tax evasion. Some of the raided exchanges are CoinSwitch Kuber, CoinDCX, BuyUCoin and Unocoin.
According to the sources of local media, the crackdown by the Mumbai CGST and DGGI has detected tax evasion of more than $9.41 million by the Indian exchanges.
“These service providers were charging a commission for their facilitation to indulge in exchange of bitcoins but were not paying GST tax. These transactions were intercepted by DGGI, and they were confronted with evidence that proved non-payment of GST,” an official source told ANI, an Indian news agency.
WazirX Is on the Top
The mass raid on the exchanges was kicked off after the authorities at the end of last month detected around $6 million in tax evasion by WazirX, which i a top crypto exchange in India. The exchange was blamed for evading $5.45 million, while the rest are in interest and penalties.
However, the Binance-owned exchange blamed it on the unclear taxation regime in the country and highlighted that it has already ‘been diligently paying tens of crores worth of GST every month’. It has also paid the asked additional taxes after the crackdown.
In a statement, WazirX said: “There was an ambiguity in the interpretation of one of the components which led to a different calculation of GST paid. However, we voluntarily paid additional GST in order to be cooperative and compliant. There was and is no intention to evade tax. That being said, we strongly believe that regulatory clarity is the need of the hour for the Indian crypto industry.”
Furthermore, the Indian tax authorities warned that it will intensify its raids against crypto companies in the coming days.
