Budget Financial News

South Africa has unveiled its 2024 budget, leveraging stablecoins and blockchain technology to promote financial inclusion among its marginalized communities and to boost interest in digital payments.

Web3 ecosystem presents a transformative opportunity for India, with the potential to redefine the digital economy, contributing an estimated USD 1.1 trillion to the GDP in the coming years, creating millions of new jobs, and strengthening the country’s global standing. India currently boasts the third-largest Web3 talent pool globally, with 12% of the world’s Web3 developers in the country, contributing to the development of the global Web3 ecosystem. The massive Web3 talent pool residing in the country has led to innovation in diverse areas within the space. This includes decentralized finance (DeFi), metaverse, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), among others, aiming to solve the most pressing issues facing our country. However, despite this impressive foundation, the sector’s growth is hindered by an outdated taxation framework. The upcoming Union Budget offers a crucial opportunity to address these challenges and unlock the full potential of Web3 for India’s economy.

Although he is open to the idea, Hunt argued he is still deciding what to include in his upcoming Budget on 6 March. | Credit: Treasury

Debt would have been £85bn in five years’ time if the chancellor had not taken any action at the Autumn Statement, OBR chair Richard Hughes said.

Investment Week summarises ten of the key points from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement, released earlier today (22 November). Credit: HM Treasury

Anita Anand is tasking federal cabinet ministers with finding $15.4 billion in government spending cuts by a deadline of Oct.

Eligible Canadians are officially set to receive a one-time grocery rebate this Wednesday, July 5.

This was introduced by Sitharaman when she tabled the Union Budget 2022-23 in Parliament on February 1. The TDS rule would come in force from July 1, Friday for transactions of more than Rs 10,000. However, the rules were not very clear until the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) issued clarifications on various issues as the Finance Act 2022 inserted a new section 194S in the Act from the coming month.

crypto industry has urged the government to reduce the TDS on payments towards gains arising from trading in cryptocurrencies to 0.01 or 0.05 per cent, from the proposed 1 per cent, saying it will hurt retail traders. CoinDCX CEO and Co-Founder Sumit Gupta said 30 per cent tax on income from cryptocurrencies is on the higher side and should be reduced. «At the industry (level), we are engaging with the government and have submitted a presentation on how 30 per cent tax and more than that, 1 per cent TDS is detrimental to the growth of the industry. It will lock up capital for traders and suck liquidity from market. If liquidity is not there, retail investors will suffer,» Gupta told reporters. Meanwhile, he said CoinDCX is also engaging with the traders on its platform to comply with the new tax noms.

finance bill including some aimed at further tightening the proposed taxation regime for crypto assets. The finance bill is scheduled to be taken up in the lower house for discussion and consideration on Thursday. It would be likely taken up for passage on Friday. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will move an amendment to make it clear that no tax deduction or set off would be available in lieu of mining costs of cryptocurrencies and other virtual digital assets (VDAs) or losses from their transfer.

Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Michael Patra on Wednesday said the central bank's views about cryptocurrencies might have delayed the government's proposed legislation on crypto assets. Emphasising that the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) will be introduced in FY23 as announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Budget speech, Patra said India will proceed very gradually on the subject as there are concerns on privacy, its impact on monetary policy formulation and energy intensity. The government had plans to introduce a bill on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin during the Winter Session of Parliament in November-December 2021 but did not introduce it. "RBI's view is quite known on crypto. I think it is the one of the views that has actually delayed a bill on that subject but we will engage in a fair debate on that subject and will look at all sides of the debate," Patra said, speaking at an event organised by the Pune International Centre.

investments, crypto platforms are introducing new products. They are looking to earn interest on their crypto deposits or draw loans against cryptocurrencies, without attracting the new tax. The Budget proposed a 30% tax on returns from digital currencies and a 1% Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) on digital assets. The government has not used the term «cryptocurrency» in the budget, but rather «virtual digital assets». This means there will not be any tax on crypto-based products, investors said. «The way the regulations are today, investors who invest in crypto-based products should not be covered either under the 1% TDS, or 30% tax on income. However, we have sought clarity on this from the government and will be approaching them in this regard,» said Darshan Bathija, cofounder of Vauld, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange. Crypto platform executives say if there is no tax incidence on crypto-based products, it could lead to greater demand from investors. «It (tax) will increase our operations as people will prefer to take out a loan on their crypto holding, instead of selling it to avoid the tax implications,» said Kumar Gaurav, founder and CEO of Cashaa.

budget proposal to impose a tax deducted at source, or TDS, on virtual digital asset transactions, saying it will be difficult to comply with. The industry also urged the government to reconsider the decision to levy a tax of 30% on current market value when crypto assets are gifted or given to employees as part of their remuneration, saying the tax is levied without waiting for the receiver to sell it and book any profit. These issues figured when representatives of leading domestic crypto exchanges met with finance ministry officials on Friday to discuss budget proposals, people familiar with the deliberations told ET.

India became one of the few countries to tax digital assets like cryptocurrencies and NFTs (non-fungible tokens) when finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a 30% tax on transfer of such assets in the Budget. Though the FM said taxing an asset does not bring legitimacy, industry watchers said that clarity on tax policy is likely to be the first step towards regulation of crypto. Some industry players said that the high tax will dissuade investors, while others felt it will give confidence to serious investors. The Budget announcements mean that income from any transfer of crypto, even gifts, would attract a 30% tax. In addition, investors cannot get any deductions and won’t be allowed to set off losses from transfer of such assets against any other income. The government has sent a strong signal against speculation or trading by retail investors, according to analysts.Attract or dissuade investors?According to industry players, clarity on taxation will give new customers confidence to enter the crypto market. Darshan Bathija, CEO & co-founder of crypto exchange Vauld, said that the government’s move has addressed concerns around legality and that he expects more Indians to invest in crypto. Presented ByDid you Know?Sunny Leone too

Nirmala Sitharaman, an electronic representation of India’s legal tender will give a big boost to its digital economy. How valid is that claim, and how risky is a hasty transition to a central bank digital currency, or CBDC? A digital rupee will be like banknotes, but minus the ATMs. Users will be able to transfer purchasing power from their deposit accounts into their smartphone wallets in the form of online tokens, which will be a direct liability of the Reserve Bank of India — just like cash.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman looked to retain the government's focus on capital expenditure by setting aside a mammoth Rs 7.50 lakh crore for the same for FY23. However, questions have been raised about the nature of this target: is it realistic, overstated, or just a huge challenge?

Union Budget, the crypto community is buzzed with multiple questions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have stepped forward to clear the clouds of ambiguity. In line with this, in a recent interview to News18, Sitharaman said that the budget announcement on virtual assets was aimed to differentiate between private cryptos and digital currency.

budget to address the lack of clarity on how income from such transactions is to be taxed and it doesn't necessarily confer legitimacy on such products, revenue secretary Tarun Bajaj said in an interview. The budget announcement had been regarded as recognition of crypto assets such as digital coin, in the absence of explicit legislation on the matter.Assessing Officers' Call till March 31

cryptocurrency bill in Parliament. However, the government has smartly sidestepped on the legality of cryptocurrencies while showing its disinclination to support these, by levying a huge tax burden on those making money from such virtual digital assets, as the Finance Bill has tried to define it. The Finance Bill 2022 proposes to introduce a new phrase called virtual digital assets, which has a very wide definition encompassing all forms of digital assets including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens. It has also added them to the expression “property”. Any transfer of virtual digital assets is proposed to be taxed at a higher rate of 30 per cent. Furthermore, no deductions would be allowed in computing the income arising from such assets, other than their cost of acquisition. More importantly, they have also proposed to tax the recipient of any such asset transferred without any consideration — for example, by way of a gift. It is also pertinent to note that any loss suffered from transfer of a virtual digital asset cannot be adjusted against any other source of income. The Central Board of Direct Taxes also plans to issue further guidelines concerning taxation of virtual digital assets, ironing out any leftover creases.

Budget has for the time being treated cryptos as ‘digital assets’ by proposing to tax the gains from crypto trading — though at a stiff rate of 30%, like lottery prize money. The central bank digital currency (CBDC) — the digital form of the fiat currency bills in your wallets — can quicken transactions and dramatically transform payments with instantaneous settlement. It would be faster and cheaper than other modes of payment like RTGS, IMPS or UPI. Cryptos, however, will not be treated as currency but may survive as assets. Not only would crypto profits be taxed at double the rate than short-term stock gains, 1% would be deducted as tax at source from the proceeds of sale of cryptocurrency.

fad across the world and India will next fiscal, beginning April 1, have its own version of the same which essentially would mirror the prevalent physical currency in digital form. The currency, called 'digital rupee', will be issued by the Reserve Bank in digital form and will be fungible with physical currency. The exact regulation governing this Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is yet to be finalised.