The Indian government has detected a significant amount of unpaid goods and service taxes (GST) by major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance and WazirX.
India’s Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, said the government has found 824 crore Indian rupees ($97 million) in GST in unpaid taxes by several crypto exchanges, The Economic Times reported on Dec. 3.
Authorities have reportedly initiated multiple related investigations into crypto exchanges, including WazirX, CoinDCX and CoinSwitch Kuber.
The report comes a few months after Indian law enforcement agencies demanded 722 crore Indian rupees ($85 million) in unpaid taxes from Binance in August.
India recovers 14% of unpaid GST from WazirX and others
The Indian government has already recovered 122.3 crore rupees ($14 million) in taxes, penalties and interest as part of the ongoing crackdown, Chaudhary reported in a response to a parliamentary question on Dec. 2.
The statement mentioned 17 crypto companies found to be involved in GST evasion, including WazirX with 40.5 crore rupees ($4.8 million) in unpaid GST taxes, CoinDCX with 16.84 crore rupees ($1.9 million) and CoinSwitch Kuber with 14.13 crore rupees ($1.7 million).
With penalties and interest, WazirX has paid 20% more than the GST amount it was accused of not paying, or 49.18 crore rupees ($5.8 million).
Binance hasn’t paid the penalty, according to Chaudhary
While a majority of the companies on the list have paid the penalties, some of the mentioned firms, including Binance and Hyperux Technologies, have yet to settle with the authorities, according to Chaudhary’s statement.
Binance appears to have not recovered its 722 crore rupees GST tax evasion as its recovery payment is not included in the total recovered amount of 122.3 crore rupees.
Related: Crypto thrives in India despite ‘discouraging’ taxes — Local community
“We continue to work closely with regulatory authorities and attend necessary hearings to address any concerns and questions. Binance remains responsive and cooperative and is committed to addressing all necessary tax inquiries,” a spokesperson for Binance told Cointelegraph.
According to a spokesperson from WazirX, the tax evasion case occurred when the “GST law on cryptocurrencies was not clear in India.”
Additionally, Chaudhary mentioned that India has registered 47 virtual digital asset service providers as reporting entities with the Financial Intelligence Unit under the country’s Anti-Money Laundering laws.
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