India crypto budget 2026: Bitcoin traders to face a $545 penalty for lapse

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

57% : India continues to levy a flat 30% tax on gains from crypto transactions, along with a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on trades -- measures that industry participants have long argued dampen liquidity and push trading activity offshore.
53% : The proposal applies to reporting entities covered under Section 509 of the Income-tax Act, which mandates the furnishing of statements related to crypto-asset transactions.
51% : India's Union Budget for 2026-27 has left the country's crypto tax regime unchanged, retaining the existing transaction tax and withholding rules, while proposing a new penalty framework aimed at tightening compliance around crypto-asset reporting.
46% : While the government has sharpened enforcement on reporting, it stopped short of altering the broader crypto tax framework.
46% : "The current tax framework presents challenges for retail participants by taxing transactions without recognising losses, creating friction rather than fairness,"Ashish Singhal, co-founder of local exchange CoinSwitch, said in an email.
45% : The decision to keep taxes and TDS unchanged disappointed parts of the domestic crypto industry, which had hoped for relief or recalibration after months of lobbying.
37% : Under amendments proposed in the Finance Bill, 2026, entities required to report crypto-asset transactions to tax authorities would face monetary penalties for lapses, including daily fines for non-filing and a fixed charge for inaccurate disclosures.

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