Crypto community up in arms against 30 per cent tax

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

crypto community has started an online protest against the 30 per cent tax on crypto currencies announced by FM Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday. Until late Thursday, the hashtag # reducecryptotax was trending on Twitter. The change.org petition was started by Aditya Singh, Co-founder of CryptooIndia, and then amplified by popular social media influencers like Sandeep Bahuguna, Pushpendra Singh, and Kashif Raza.

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By 11.15 PM on Thursday, the petition had 44,600 signatures. The main questions being asked by the Indian crypto community were: what was the basis for the 30 percent tax number, why wasn’t there a slab system according to activity (investing, mining, or trading) and why was the government raising the barrier to entry for crypto? Even the top exchanges were supporting the small investors. «While taxation is a positive step, a 30 percent tax will discourage traders. We believe that crypto-assets should be treated fairly and on par with other asset classes like equities to enable growth of the industry in the long term, » said Sumit Gupta, CEO of CoinDCX, on Twitter. The investor community was miffed that the government had equated the crypto industry with gambling. «I just don’t understand why the government is treating it on par with gambling or the lottery. „India could be a leader in blockchain if we have sound policies,“ said Kashif Raza, a popular crypto commentator. The crypto traders have to pay trading fees to the exchange, blockchain fees on transfers etc., which