India Crypto Tax Rules: What You Need to Know in 2025

When it comes to India crypto tax rules, the set of regulations governing how digital assets are taxed in India, including income tax, TDS, and reporting requirements. Also known as cryptocurrency tax India, these rules force traders to treat crypto like property—not currency—making every trade, swap, or gift a taxable event. The 2020 Supreme Court crypto ruling lifted the banking ban, but it didn’t touch taxes. That came later, in 2022, when the government slapped a flat 30% tax on all crypto gains, no matter how long you held the asset. No deductions. No offsets. Even if you lost money elsewhere, your crypto profits are taxed at the top rate.

Then came the 1% TDS (Tax Deducted at Source). Every time you sell crypto on an exchange, the platform withholds 1% of the sale amount and sends it to the government. This isn’t your final tax bill—it’s a prepayment. But it’s still a headache. If you’re trading on decentralized platforms or peer-to-peer, you’re still legally required to track every transaction and report it. The government doesn’t care if you used a non-KYC wallet. If you made a profit, they want their cut. And if you don’t report? Penalties can hit up to 200% of the tax due, plus interest.

These rules don’t just affect traders. If you received crypto as a gift, it’s taxable income for the receiver. If you mine crypto, the value at the time you receive it is taxed as income. Even staking rewards and airdrops are treated as ordinary income. There’s no exemption for small amounts. A $50 airdrop? Taxable. A $5,000 swap? Taxable. There’s no "personal use" loophole like with traditional assets.

What makes this mess worse is the lack of clear guidance. The Income Tax Department hasn’t released official forms for crypto reporting. You’re expected to manually track every transaction across wallets, exchanges, and chains. No tools are officially approved. That means most people either guess, use third-party apps (at their own risk), or ignore it entirely—risking audits down the line.

And while other countries like Portugal or Singapore offer crypto tax relief, India’s approach is among the strictest in the world. It’s not designed to encourage adoption—it’s designed to control it. The government wants visibility. It wants revenue. It doesn’t care if you’re a weekend trader or a long-term holder. If you touched crypto in 2024, you owe taxes on it in 2025.

Below, you’ll find real breakdowns of how these rules play out in practice: what the Supreme Court actually ruled, how TDS hits your wallet, why your airdrops aren’t free, and which crypto projects in India are still alive despite the tax storm. No theory. No fluff. Just what you need to know before you file—or before you trade again.