'No sale, no profit, no tax,' say some cryptocurrency investors who want to put their holdings on hold for years.
From April 1, India will levy a 30% tax on any earnings made from cryptocurrency trading. While many small investors have sold their holdings, some large investors have stated that they will continue to trade. Many of them also say they'll keep their investments for years until taxes are reduced.
The tendency appears to be that only those who can afford to pay the 30% tax or put their holdings on wait for years would remain in the Indian crypto ecosystem. By the night of March 31, those with minor assets or no other source of income had mostly cashed out.
Vivek Singh, an investor, wrote on Twitter that the tax amount was enormous and that he had offloaded his portfolio. "A profit of 30% is hard to come by for me, and it's too risky," he wrote in a tweet.
Many others, like him, bemoaned the high costs of departing the crypto market. Vicky Kumar, an investor, tweeted: "Because I'm a little investment, I'm going to quit. Because of my (financial) situation, I am unable to pay 30% tax and 1% TDS."
Kshitij Purohit, head of commodities and currencies at CapitalVia Global Research, previously told CNBC-TV18: "Investors are decreasing their positions before April 1 since taxes are higher than projected."
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"I earn Rs 1 lakh to Rs 8 lakh weekly," crypto collector Vivek Sinha claimed. It's a big tax, but I'm willing to pay it for my freedom (to continue trading in crypto). It's preferable to working."
"Won't stop but also won't sell," another Twitter user named Plan-D remarked. The path is to hold. There will be no sale, profit, or tax if there is no sale."
"Stopping my everyday trade today," another user called Nishant Nirmale posted. The only option is to keep moving forward. Regrettably, I will lose out on some excellent prospects.
Another collector, Sarbashis Kahali, said he had uninstalled the crypto apps and would wait a few years. If the law changes, he also hopes to cash out. Some tweets suggested that, investors are ready to wait until the next election in the hopes that a new administration will listen to their pleas to lower the exorbitant 30 percent tax.
Suraj Pandey, another investor, stated that he was leaving only Indian crypto exchanges. "I'm sending money to a Thailand-based pal. As a result, he made a Binance purchase on my behalf. In India, I may also trade using his Binance account."
The crypto tax, according to WaxirX founder Nishchal Shetty, will result in a flight to foreign exchanges, trade without KYC, grey markets, a vast pool of tax defaulters, and massive TDS refunds. The community says that, if high taxes continue, India would face significant tax evasion.