Cryptos a source of income for govt: Sitharaman

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After proposing a tax of 30% on income from any crypto currency, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that the government sees a source of tax revenue from the crypto assets.

Addressing the India Global Forum in Bengaluru on Tuesday, Sitharaman said she wasn’t willing to disclose whether the government wished to regulate the cryptocurrencies or impose a ban on them.

She said that talks are currently on and the government would be talking about it.

While talking about the crypto market in the country, Sitharaman said, “Many Indians have seen a future in crypto, therefore I see a possibility of revenue in it”.

After presenting the budget in February, the finance minister had said that the government has only imposed a tax on the profit earned from the digital assets, and has not legalised it.

“The consultations are on….anybody interested in this domain is welcome to participate after the consultation process gets duly completed, the (finance) ministry would probably sit and mull over it, which is required because we need the executive to be sure that we are not crossing any legal requirements, post which we will be coming out with what’s our position on it,” she said.

Commenting on the proposed digital rupee, Sitharaman said, “It was a conscious call taken in consultation with the central bank (RBI). We would like them to design it the way they would like to do it, but this year we expect the currency to come out from the central bank itself”.