Investor

Crypto and VDA tax in India

A sale of crypto, a notified NFT, or another virtual digital asset is taxed at 30% of the gain. Only the price you paid for that asset comes off. A loss on one coin does not reduce the gain on another, and it does not reduce salary. The figures on this page are for FY 2026-27. The threshold table is labelled AY 2026-27. That label is not FY 2026-27. The investor guide puts the same 30% next to shares and property.

Official sources

Taxation of Virtual Digital Asset (CBDT note). Section 2(47A) says what is a VDA and what is left out. Section 115BBH taxes the transfer at 30% and allows only the cost of acquisition. The introduction on the same note adds surcharge and cess to that 30%. Section 194S is 1% TDS when the seller is a resident. A non-resident seller is under Section 195.
Section 115BBH (1961 Act text as hosted). No deduction other than cost of acquisition, no set-off of a loss, and no carry-forward. Transfer applies whether or not the asset is a capital asset.
Income-tax Act, 2025, section 194 (table item 4, tax on certain incomes). Same 30% charge, same bar on expenses, set-off, and carry-forward. This is not the 1961 Act section on dividends. The Act hub is the text that applies when you file.
Section 194S and the threshold limits (page labelled AY 2026-27, not FY 2026-27). No TDS if a specified person pays ₹50,000 or less in the year, or if any other person pays ₹10,000 or less.
Form 26AS and AIS, where the 1% credit shows up. Income-tax return forms for Schedule VDA.
Crypto-asset reporting under the Income-tax Act, 2025, section 509. That note is for reporting entities. It is not Schedule VDA in your own return.

What you pay on a transfer

Tax on a transfer is 30% of sale price minus cost of acquisition. Brokerage, gas, wallet fees, and mining electricity do not come off that figure. There is no slab rate, no long-term rate, and no indexation. Holding Bitcoin for 5 years does not change the 30%.

Transfer of a VDA

30%

of sale price minus the price you paid. The CBDT note introduction also adds surcharge and cess.

Comes off the sale price

✓ Cost of acquisition (the buy price)

Does not come off

✗ Transaction fees and brokerage
✗ Mining costs and electricity
✗ Wallet fees and gas fees
✗ Any other expense

On the Income-tax Act, 2025 hub, that 30% is table item 4 of the section titled tax on certain incomes. The CBDT note still labels the same charge Section 115BBH.

What counts as a VDA

Section 2(47A), as the CBDT note sets it out, covers four groups. A notified NFT is included. An NFT that is only a physical object is not.

Is a VDA

✓ Information, code, number, or token generated through cryptographic means
✓ A notified NFT
✓ Any other digital asset the government notifies
✓ A crypto-asset whose transactions are validated on a cryptographically secured ledger, or similar technology

Is not a VDA

✗ Indian currency, and foreign currency
✗ The RBI digital rupee (CBDC)
✗ A physical NFT (Notification No. 75, 30 June 2022)
✗ Gift cards and vouchers, reward points and loyalty cards, and a subscription to a website or app (Notification No. 74, 30 June 2022)

TDS at 1%

When you sell to a resident buyer, Section 194S asks the buyer, or the exchange, to deduct 1% of the consideration. The 1% is on the amount paid, not on the profit. A small sale can have no TDS. The cut-off depends on who pays.

Who pays you	No TDS if the year does not exceed	Rate above that
Specified person	₹50,000	1%
Any other person, including an exchange	₹10,000	1%

A specified person is an individual or an HUF. Either they have no business or profession income, or in the financial year before the transfer their business turnover did not exceed ₹1 crore, or their professional receipts did not exceed ₹50 lakh. Anyone else uses the ₹10,000 line. Both lines are on the threshold page labelled AY 2026-27. That label is not FY 2026-27. The total is for the year, not for one trade.

If the buyer pays you in another coin, or partly in cash that is too small to cover the 1%, Section 194S says the tax has to be paid before the asset is released. If the seller is a non-resident, the CBDT note puts the deduction under Section 195, not 194S. The TDS guide covers the other sections.

The 1% is a credit

It counts toward the 30% on the gain. If the credit is higher than the tax for the year, the extra comes back when you file. If it is lower, you pay the rest. The credit is on Form 26AS and AIS.

Losses and expenses

Section 115BBH and table item 4 of the 2025 Act section both stop a loss from reducing the income. They also stop that loss from being carried forward.

No set-off

A loss on one coin does not reduce the gain on another coin. It also does not reduce salary, interest, or any other income. Gains are still added together. Losses are not subtracted from those gains.

No carry-forward

A loss on listed shares can be carried forward for 8 years. A business loss can also be carried forward for 8 years. A VDA loss cannot. It ends with the year.

No indexation

Five years of holding does not give an inflation adjustment. The 30% is on sale price minus the buy price.

No other expense

Transaction fees, gas, mining costs, and electricity do not reduce the gain. Only the buy price does.

Gifts

If someone who is not a relative gives you crypto worth more than ₹50,000, the value is taxed in your hands under Section 56(2)(x), at slab rates. The threshold page says a gift up to ₹50,000 is not chargeable. That page is labelled AY 2026-27, not FY 2026-27. Once the gift is over ₹50,000, the full value is taxed, not only the part above ₹50,000.

From	Tax on the gift
A relative, for example a spouse, child, parent, or sibling	Not taxed under this gift rule
Anyone else, value ≤ ₹50,000	Not taxable
Anyone else, value > ₹50,000	Full value, at slab rates

Schedule VDA

If you transferred crypto in the year, the return has a separate schedule, Schedule VDA. It lists the transfers. The forms are on the income-tax return page. Which form you use is in the ITR guide.

Match the TDS credit

Where Section 194S was deducted, the 1% is on Form 26AS and AIS. A return that leaves out Schedule VDA does not match that credit, and the department can send a notice.

Report each of these:

→ Each sale: date, amount, and whether that row is a gain or a loss
→ TDS from Form 26AS and AIS
→ Tax at 30% of the gains. Do not subtract a loss-making row from the gains. Section 115BBH does not allow that set-off.

Mining and staking

Coins you earn by mining or staking are not the same receipt as a sale. The reward is taxed when you receive it. A later sale of those coins is a transfer, so the 30% rule applies to that sale.

Activity	Tax rate	Head
Mining rewards	Slab rates	Income from other sources
Staking rewards	Slab rates	Income from other sources
Later sale of those coins	30%	VDA transfer (capital asset or not)

Two points of tax

The reward is taxed at slab rates when you receive it. The sale is taxed again at 30%. Cost for that 30% is the market value at the time of mining or staking, the same value already taxed as the reward. Electricity and other mining costs still do not come off the sale.

Estimate the tax on a sale

The capital gains calculator applies the 30% VDA rate next to shares and property. It does not replace Schedule VDA.

Capital gains calculator