The indirect taxes department has been examining whether it can impose Goods and Services Tax (GST) on transactions by Indian customers on overseas cryptocurrency exchanges. There are many overseas cryptocurrency exchanges that allow Indians to invest in virtual coins.
Most transactions involving Indians consuming any goods and services attract a GST, based on different tax slabs under the law. According to an Economic Times report, the GST of 18 percent could be levied on transactions overseas exchanges for transactions conducted by Indians.
The government could categorise services provided by overseas cryptocurrency exchanges that allow Indians to trade on their platforms as online information database access and retrieval (OIDAR) devices, as mentioned in the publication’s report.