Budget 2024 Expectations Live Updates: Can India achieve 500 GW of green energy by 2030? – The Economic Times

Budget 2024 Expectations Live Updates: “As the government prepares for the upcoming Union Budget 2024-25, we urge them to create a conducive regulatory and tax environment that supports the burgeoning digital economy and fosters innovation. The current taxation framework for Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs), introduced over two years back in the Feb 2022 Budget, has led to unintended consequences even for the Govt and the exchequer, primarily via a massive shift in VDA transactions to offshore platforms, impacting tracking and tracing of such transactions. We believe that with a new Government in place, and to capitalise on India’s Web3 opportunity, a relook at the tax treatment on VDAs in the July 2024 Union Budget will be very timely. Some of our budget recommendations are as follows:

● Reduce TDS Rate on VDAs: Lower the rate of TDS on the transfer of VDAs from 1% to 0.01% under Section 194S to bring the majority of VDA transactions within the tax oversight mechanism, to improve tax compliance, and prevent capital flight.
● Allow Loss Offset: Allow the offset of losses similar to other sectors to encourage responsible trading practices and reduce the risk of tax evasion.
● Re-examine Flat 30% Tax Rate: Re-examine the flat rate of 30% applicable to income from the transfer of VDAs to ensure parity with other tech-enabled sectors.

Additionally, the threshold of Rs 10,000 / Rs 50,000 can also be revisited. Most of the crypto sellers (mainly individuals) are in the low-income bracket. Increasing the threshold will reduce the administrative burden on the tax department in processing refunds. These adjustments can help the government create an environment where digital assets can thrive, contribute significantly to economic growth, and achieve the vision of steering India towards becoming a $5 trillion economy,” said Ashish Singhal, Co-founder, CoinSwitch.