Crypto Tax Filing in India — Complete Guide for FY 2024-25

## What changed with Budget 2022 Before April 2022: crypto tax treatment was ambiguous. Some traders filed under capital gains, some as business income. After April 2022: - Section 115BBH: flat 30% on all VDA (Virtual Digital Asset) income - Section 194S: 1% TDS on VDA transfers above threshold - Schedule VDA introduced in ITR for FY 2022-23 onwards ## Which ITR form for crypto? **ITR-2:** For salaried/non-business individuals with crypto as investment **ITR-3:** If crypto is primary business activity (frequent trader) Most retail crypto investors use ITR-2 with Schedule VDA. ## Filing Schedule VDA For each crypto asset sold in the year: - Date of transfer - Date of acquisition - Cost of acquisition (INR value at time of purchase + fees) - Sale consideration (INR received + fair value of crypto received in swap) - Gain/Loss For each asset, gains are taxed at 30%. There is no netting section — each transaction line is independent. ## TDS reconciliation 1. Download Form 26AS from TRACES portal 2. Check Section 194S TDS entries 3. Match against your exchange transaction history 4. Claim TDS credit in ITR ## Common mistakes - Not reporting crypto-to-crypto swaps (each swap is a taxable event) - Not including staking rewards as income - Ignoring airdrops (taxable at fair market value on receipt date) - Using wrong cost basis (FIFO vs LIFO — use FIFO for India) - Not claiming TDS in ITR (this is free money — your advance tax paid)