Do I file in India if I trade on an Indian exchange from abroad?
Usually yes, if you want the deduction back. The platform deducts on the transaction itself, which happens whether or not the trade produced a gain and whether or not a treaty helps you. That deduction is not the tax. It is money held against a liability that has not been computed. The Indian return is where the transfers are added up, the gains computed under the dedicated regime that applies to them, any treaty position claimed, and the deducted amounts set against the result. Skip the return and the deduction stays with the revenue. Most non-resident crypto files are a recovery rather than a payment.
Why was tax deducted on every crypto trade I made?
Because the deduction under this regime attaches to the transfer, not to the profit. Each disposal on an Indian platform is its own event, so a year of active trading produces a long list of small deductions, including on trades you lost money on. That is the design, and the platform has no discretion about it. The consequence is arithmetic rather than injustice. Across a whole year the deducted total and the tax actually due on your gains are different numbers, often by a wide margin. Reconciling them is the reason to file, and the platform statement is the starting document.
Can I set my crypto losses against my crypto gains in India?
Not in the way you would expect. The regime that taxes these transfers is deliberately separate, and the ordinary rules on setting off losses do not apply to it. So a year with heavy losses and modest gains does not necessarily net down to a small figure. Compute each disposal on the regime's own basis before assuming any offset, because the difference between a netted figure and a regime-computed one is usually the whole of the dispute. If you have already filed on a netted basis, that is a correctable error, but it is better found by you than by the revenue.
Can I deduct exchange fees and interest from my crypto gain?
Deductions are restricted under this regime, which is one of the features that makes it unlike an ordinary capital gains computation. Costs that would be allowable elsewhere are not automatically allowable here. Rather than assuming a category is in or out, build the computation from what the regime actually permits against each transfer, and keep the excluded items listed separately so the position is visible if it is queried. Traders come to us with spreadsheets that net every platform charge against every disposal. Rebuilding that on the correct basis is often the bulk of the work on a crypto file.
Does the India treaty stop tax on my crypto gains?
A treaty position, if you have one, is claimed on the Indian return. It is not something the platform can apply at the point of the trade, so the deduction happens first regardless. Whether the treaty reaches these gains at all is a question to analyse on your facts and your residence, not to assume from the fact that a treaty exists. Have the analysis written down before filing, with the residence evidence attached, because a treaty claim made in a return and not supported in the file is the claim that gets unpicked.
How do I claim back crypto tax deducted at source in India?
Through the Indian return, by reconciliation. You need the platform's record of every transfer and every deduction, your tax registration details correctly recorded against those deductions, and a computation of the gains on the regime's own basis. The deducted amounts are then set against the computed liability and the excess claimed. Two things stall these files: deductions recorded against incomplete registration details, so they cannot be traced to you, and statements downloaded in a format that does not reconcile to the exchange's own totals. Fix both before filing, not after a query.
How does a non-resident file a tax return?
On the non-resident form for that country, reporting only the income that country may tax. In the US that is the 1040-NR; in Canada it is a T1 restricted to Canadian-source amounts, plus the elective returns under sections 216 and 217 where withholding on rent or pension income exceeded the real tax. The commonest error is filing the resident form by default and reporting worldwide income to a country with no right to it. See Form 1040-NR.
Do dual citizens pay taxes in both countries?
Both countries can have a claim, but paying double taxes on the same dollar is the exception rather than the rule. The United States taxes its citizens wherever they live; Canada, India and most others tax on residence. So a dual citizen living in one of them often files in both — a resident return in one, a citizen return in the other — while the credit and exclusion rules mean the total is usually close to the higher of the two, not the sum. Filing twice is not paying twice. See two returns as a dual citizen.
