oppn parties VDAs Brought Under PMLA, Exchanges To Be Reporting Entities

Story Of The Day

Assessee Not Responsible For Ensuring TDS Is Paid To The Government: Delhi HC
OPINIONS : Strongly Expressed

January 22, 2025

People Are Talking About

Rohit Warns Sarfaraz, Police Use It To Warn Two-Wheeler Riders

News Snippets

  • Sikh extremists attacked a cinema hall in London that was playing Kangana Ranaut's controversial film 'Emergency'
  • A Delhi court directed the investigating agencies to senstize officers to collect nail clippings, fingernail scrappings or finger swab in order to get DNA profile as direct evidence of sexual attack is often not present and might result in an offender going scot free
  • Uniform Civil Code rules cleared by state cabinet, likely to be implemented in the next 10 days
  • Supreme Court reiterates that there is no point in arresting the accused after the chargesheet has been filed and the investigation is complete
  • Kolkata court sentences Sanjoy Roy, the sole accused in the R G Kar rape-murder case, to life term. West Bengal government and CBI to appeal in HC for the death penalty
  • Supreme Court stays criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi for his remarks against home minister Amit Shah in Jharkhand during the AICC plenary session
  • Government reviews import basket to align it with the policies of the Trump administration
  • NCLT orders liquidation of GoAir airlines
  • Archery - Indian archers bagged 2 silver in Nimes Archery tournament in France
  • Stocks make impressive gain on Monday - Sensex adds 454 points to 77073 and Nifty 141 points to 23344
  • D Gukesh draws with Fabiano Caruana in the Tata Steel chess tournament in the Netherlands
  • Women's U-19 T20 WC - In a stunning game, debutants Nigeria beat New Zealand by 2 runs
  • Rohit Sharma to play under Ajinkye Rahane in Mumbai's Ranji match against J&K
  • Virat Kohli to play in Delhi's last group Ranji trophy match against Saurashtra. This will be his first Ranji match in 12 years
  • The toll in the Rajouri mystery illness case rose to 17 even as the Centre sent a team to study the situation
Calling the case not 'rarest of rare', a court in Kolkata sentenced Sanjay Roy, the only accused in the R G Kar rape-murder case to life in prison until death
oppn parties
VDAs Brought Under PMLA, Exchanges To Be Reporting Entities

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-03-09 06:24:39

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

In a move to bring India's crypto regulations at par with the worldwide trend, the government issued a gazette notification on Tuesday to bring virtual digital asset transactions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) defines a virtual asset as "a digital representation of value that can be digitally traded, transferred and used for payment or investment purposes." FATF sets international standards aimed at preventing money laundering and terrorist financing. India's latest move is in line with FATF recommendations.

Henceforth, "exchange between virtual digital assets and fiat currencies, exchange between one or more forms of virtual digital assets, transfer of virtual digital assets (VDA), safekeeping or administration of virtual digital assets or instruments enabling control over virtual digital assets and participation in and provision of financial services related to an issuer's offer and sale of a virtual digital asset" will now be covered under PMLA, as per the gazette notification.

Further, all entities or exchanges dealing in VDAs will now act as reporting entities under PMLA. This means that like banks, financial institutions including stock brokers as well as real estate and jewellery sectors and casinos, entities dealing in VDAs will now have to maintain a record of all transactions, ensure that all their customers and users, registered or one-time, are KYC compliant and report all suspicious activity to the Financial Intelligence Unit India. The government has also said that it will penalise or even shut down entities dealing in VDAs if they do not comply with the latest changes.

Given the fact that crypto affords anonymity and can be used for financial fraud, tax evasion, moving money from one country to another, terror funding activities and for a host of other illegal financial activities not possible through legal financial channels, this move on part of the government is welcome. It means that those who use crypto can no longer use it for illegal activities as they have to provide their credentials and the transactions can be reported and traced.

Although India has not made crypto legal yet, it has slapped a 30% tax on all income from dealing in VDAs and has also prescribed deduction of 1% TDS on all transaction to ensure that they do not escape the tax net. This latest move will further tighten the grip on VDA transactions to ensure that individuals or entities do not use it for illegal activities. 

Other Stories You Make Like

Editorials

Turmoil In Mollywood

Turmoil In Mollywood

NDA 3.0: Coalition Dharma

NDA 3.0: Coalition Dharma

In Depth

Supreme Court Gets Strict On Child Pornography

Supreme Court Gets Strict On Child Pornography

Editor's Pick

Budapest Chess Olympiad: India Are World Team Champions

Budapest Chess Olympiad: India Are World Team Champions
© 2014 India Commentary. All rights reserved.