India Crypto Tax Calculator
Calculate your crypto tax liability under India's current rules (30% tax on gains, 1% TDS, 18% GST, no loss offsetting).
Note: This calculator shows how the current rules affect your tax burden. Losses cannot be offset against gains under current Indian tax law.
Your Transaction Details
Tax Calculation
Enter your transaction details to see your tax liability.
Tax Breakdown
Taxable Gain: ₹0
30% Tax: ₹0
1% TDS: ₹0
18% GST: ₹0
Total Tax: ₹0
Net Profit After Tax
₹0
India is the top country in the world for cryptocurrency adoption-yet it taxes crypto like a lottery win. While places like the U.S., Germany, and Japan offer reasonable capital gains rates or even tax-free holding periods, India slapped on a 30% flat tax on every crypto profit, no deductions, no loss offsets, and no mercy. And still, millions of Indians keep buying, selling, and holding Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital assets. How? And why does it keep growing?
How India Became the World’s Biggest Crypto Market
In 2025, India leads global crypto adoption by user count, according to Chainalysis and the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. Over 120 million Indians have used crypto platforms at least once. That’s more than the entire population of Germany or Japan. What’s driving this? It’s not government support-it’s grassroots demand. Young professionals, gig workers, and small business owners see crypto as a way to bypass broken systems. Inflation eats away at savings in rupees. Remittances cost 6-8% through banks. Stock markets feel distant. Crypto offers direct access to global markets with just a smartphone. Platforms like CoinSwitch Kuber, ZebPay, and WazirX made it easy to buy Bitcoin for as little as ₹100. No brokers. No minimums. No waiting weeks for paperwork. Even after the 2022 tax rules, adoption didn’t drop. It just changed shape. People moved from speculative trading to long-term holding. Many started using crypto for cross-border payments, DeFi lending, and NFT-based freelance gigs. The community adapted-not because they liked the rules, but because the alternatives felt worse.The Tax System That Makes No Sense
India’s crypto tax rules, introduced in Budget 2022, are among the strictest in the world. Here’s how they work:- 30% flat tax on all crypto gains-even if you lost money elsewhere in your portfolio.
- No loss offsetting. If you lose ₹50,000 on Solana but make ₹30,000 on Bitcoin, you still pay tax on the ₹30,000. The loss vanishes.
- 1% TDS on every trade over ₹50,000. That’s deducted upfront by exchanges, whether you profit or not. If you trade daily, this adds up fast.
- 18% GST on every platform fee since July 2025. That includes trading fees, staking rewards, withdrawals, and even custody services.
- No expense deductions. You can’t deduct trading fees, gas costs, mining hardware, or software tools. Only the purchase price counts.
Why the Rules Are Backfiring
The government’s goal was simple: stop tax evasion and protect financial stability. But the outcome has been the opposite. Thousands of Indian traders now use offshore exchanges like Binance, Bybit, and Kraken. They avoid TDS. They avoid GST. They avoid the 30% trap. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) confirmed in August 2025 that over 40% of Indian crypto trading volume now happens outside India’s borders. That means India loses TDS revenue, GST revenue, and the chance to regulate the market properly. Crypto startups are leaving too. Over 15 Indian crypto firms relocated their tech teams to Dubai, Singapore, and Portugal in 2024-2025. They couldn’t survive the compliance cost. One founder told me: “We spent more on tax software than on product development.” Even the 1% TDS is a problem. Imagine buying Bitcoin for ₹1,00,000. ₹1,000 gets taken before you even get the coins. If the price drops 5% the next day, you’ve lost ₹5,000 in value and paid ₹1,000 in tax-on paper. You didn’t make a cent, but the government still took its cut. That’s not taxation. That’s a liquidity tax.
Who’s Feeling the Pain the Most
It’s not the whales. It’s the everyday traders. A 24-year-old engineer in Pune started trading crypto in 2021. By 2023, he had made ₹8 lakh in gains. But he also lost ₹5 lakh on other coins. Under India’s rules, he paid 30% tax on ₹8 lakh-₹2.4 lakh. His net profit? ₹5.6 lakh. But after paying ₹1,000 TDS on every trade (he made 37 trades that year), and ₹18% GST on fees (₹12,000), his real take-home was ₹5.28 lakh. He worked 18 months to earn that. He didn’t even get to use his losses. Small investors are worse off. A college student in Hyderabad bought ₹10,000 worth of crypto in 2023. Sold it for ₹15,000 in 2024. Made ₹5,000 profit. Paid ₹1,500 in tax. Paid ₹100 TDS. Paid ₹180 GST on the exchange fee. Net profit: ₹3,220. That’s a 64% tax burden on actual profit. No other asset class in India works like this.The Hidden Cost: Compliance Chaos
Filing taxes for crypto in India isn’t just hard-it’s messy. You need to track every single transaction: buy, sell, swap, stake, earn interest, receive airdrops. Each one has a taxable event. You need to record the date, price in INR, and cost basis. Then you need to report it all in Schedule VDA in your ITR. The software doesn’t auto-calculate losses because the law doesn’t allow them. You’re on your own. Exchanges don’t help much. They give you a PDF of your trades-but no tax summary. No profit/loss report. No loss carry-forward option. You have to build your own spreadsheet. Many people hire chartered accountants. That costs ₹15,000-₹30,000 per year. For someone making ₹50,000 in crypto profit? That’s half their earnings gone to compliance.
Is There a Way Out?
In August 2025, the CBDT started asking hard questions. They sent surveys to 50+ Indian crypto platforms. Questions like:- Is the 1% TDS too high for small traders?
- Does the 30% tax kill market liquidity?
- Should India create a separate legal framework for crypto-not just tax rules?
- Are offshore exchanges giving foreign firms an unfair advantage?
- Allowing loss offsets within crypto assets
- Reducing TDS to 0.1% for trades under ₹2 lakh
- Exempting staking and DeFi rewards from GST
- Introducing long-term holding discounts (like stocks)
What Comes Next?
India’s crypto adoption isn’t slowing down. It’s evolving. More people are using crypto for real use cases: sending money to family abroad, earning interest on stablecoins, buying NFTs from global creators. The tax system hasn’t stopped that. It’s just made it harder, costlier, and more stressful. The real story isn’t about tax rates. It’s about resilience. Indians are choosing crypto not because it’s easy, but because it’s necessary. The government may still be stuck in a punitive mindset, but the people have already moved on. If India wants to stay at the top of global crypto adoption, it needs to stop treating its users like tax evaders-and start treating them like innovators. The market is already there. The policy just needs to catch up.Why is India’s crypto tax rate 30%?
India taxes crypto gains at 30% because the government classifies digital assets as Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs) and treats them like gambling or lottery winnings under the Income Tax Act. This rate was chosen in 2022 to discourage speculative trading and ensure tax compliance, even though it’s far higher than standard capital gains rates in most countries.
Can I offset crypto losses against gains in India?
No, you cannot offset crypto losses against crypto gains-or any other income-in India. Even if you lose ₹1 lakh on Ethereum and make ₹50,000 on Bitcoin, you still pay 30% tax on the ₹50,000. The loss disappears. This rule applies across all digital assets, including NFTs and stablecoins.
What is the 1% TDS on crypto trades?
The 1% Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) is automatically taken by Indian crypto exchanges on every trade above ₹50,000, regardless of profit or loss. For example, if you sell ₹1 lakh worth of Bitcoin, ₹1,000 is withheld by the exchange and paid to the government. This applies even if you’re selling at a loss.
Do I have to pay GST on crypto trading in India?
Yes, since July 2025, an 18% Goods and Services Tax (GST) applies to all platform services-including trading fees, staking rewards, withdrawals, and custody fees. This makes India one of the few countries to tax crypto services directly. Even if you don’t make a profit, you still pay GST on the fees charged by the exchange.
Are offshore crypto exchanges legal for Indians?
Using offshore exchanges isn’t illegal, but it creates compliance risks. You still owe Indian taxes on all global crypto gains, and you must report them in Schedule VDA of your ITR. Many users use foreign platforms to avoid TDS and GST, but they’re still legally required to declare income and pay 30% tax on profits.
Is crypto legal in India?
Yes, crypto is legal in India. You can buy, sell, hold, and trade digital assets. The Supreme Court lifted the banking ban in 2020, and the government recognizes crypto as Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs) under tax law. But it’s not legal tender-meaning you can’t use Bitcoin to pay for groceries. It’s treated as property for tax purposes only.
What happens if I don’t report my crypto gains?
If you don’t report crypto gains in Schedule VDA of your Income Tax Return, you risk a tax notice, penalties up to 200% of the tax due, and potential investigation by the Income Tax Department. Exchanges now share transaction data with the government under the TDS system, making evasion easier to detect.
