Cryptic about crypto? Tell all or face jail term, penalty

The Finance Bill, 2026 tightens the compliance screws connected crypto assets, expanding reporting and sharpening penalties from April 1, 2026, portion leaving taxation rates unchanged. Crypto exchanges, wallet providers and intermediaries indispensable present study transaction details to taxation authorities, aligning India with the OECD’s crypto-asset reporting framework.

The VDA (virtual integer assets) explanation widens to explicitly screen “crypto-assets” built connected distributed-ledger technology.Non-filing of statements draws a Rs 200-a-day penalty. Inaccurate disclosures oregon due-diligence lapses pull Rs 50,000 fine. Failure to deposit taxation collected connected VDA transfers tin trigger prosecution, including up to 2 years’ jailhouse wherever the magnitude exceeds Rs 50 lakh. Cases wherever information is paid wholly successful benignant are excluded.

“On the overseas plus disclosure scheme, the memorandum...does not specifically see VDAs. So, uncertainty continues connected whether offshore-held VDAs indispensable beryllium reported successful Schedule FA and whether they suffice nether the scheme,” said Meyyappan Nagappan, partner, taxation signifier astatine Trilegal.