What are ‘virtual digital assets’ that will be taxed at 30% now?

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

virtual digital assets at a flat rate of 30 per cent, with no deduction and no provision to set off against any other income. Gift of virtual digital assets is also proposed to be taxed in the hands of the recipient. The government has also proposed a 1 per cent tax deducted at source (TDS) in order to track the transactions. Many see this as a masterstroke that will help the government track every transaction as market players will be liable to deduct taxes and report the transaction to the government. The clarification on the taxation of cryptocurrency was a long pending demand from the industry.

Did you Know?

Sunny Leone took the lead among Indian actors to secure her digital assets when she broke the news about her association with NFT, two months back. This made her the first Indian actress to mint NFTs

The government also proposed to introduce Digital Rupee, using blockchain and other technologies, to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India starting 2022-23. “Digital currency will also lead to a more efficient and cheaper currency management system,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. Analysts and industry also welcomed these steps. Pranay Bhatia, Partner and Leader — Tax and Regulatory Services, BDO India said: With no deduction for cost, tax rate at 30 per cent, tax on mining/gifting and no offset of loss against income from other sources, the FM has announced the much-needed clarity on crypto transactions. He, however, added that tracking such transactions in the absence of a central regulator may be challenging. So what are these virtual digital assets, as far as taxation is concerned? In simple words, it basically means cryptocurrencies, DeFi (decentralised finance) and