Crypto tax in India for non-residents — can I handle this myself?
Some of it, yes — and we will say so on the call if that is the honest answer. The parts that are worth paying for are the ones where a missed election, a missed deadline or an unverified threshold costs more than the fee: gains on transfer are taxed with restricted deductions, and the platform deducts at source on the transaction.
What if I have already filed and got it wrong?
That is a common starting point. We re-derive the position, identify whether an amendment or a disclosure route is the right vehicle, and tell you which one preserves the relief that is still available. The order matters more than the speed.
How long will it take?
It depends on the documents rather than on us. Once the pack is complete most filings turn around inside a fortnight; anything that needs a certificate from a tax authority runs on that authority's timetable, which we tell you at the start rather than at the end.
Do I owe Indian tax on crypto if I live abroad?
Residence is not the whole answer. India taxes transfers of virtual digital assets under a dedicated regime, and where a transfer runs through an Indian platform the deduction is applied at transaction level, against your Indian identifier, whether or not you set foot in the country. Once that deduction exists, the amount collected and the amount actually due become two different questions, and the second is only answered on an Indian return. That is also where a treaty position, if the facts support one, has to be taken. Ignoring it leaves the platform's view as the only record.
Why is the exchange deducting tax on every single trade?
Because the deduction under this regime operates at transaction level rather than on a year's net result. Each transfer is looked at on its own, so a series of trades that finishes the year down can still have generated a deduction on every disposal along the way. The deduction is a collection step and takes no view of your overall outcome. Reconciling those transaction-level deductions against what is actually due is return work, and it needs the platform's full ledger rather than its summary, because summaries report totals that cannot be tied back to individual transfers.
Can I set my crypto losses off against my crypto gains in India?
Do not assume the ordinary set-off rules apply here. This regime was written with restrictions that do not match how gains and losses are treated elsewhere in the Indian system, and that is the most common surprise for someone arriving from another country's crypto rules. The practical consequence is that a year which feels flat in the wallet can still produce a liability, and planning built on offsetting is planning on the wrong basis. We establish the position for the year in question before computing anything, rather than applying the general rules out of habit.
Can I deduct exchange fees and transaction costs from my crypto gains?
Deductions under this regime are restricted, and the restriction is deliberate rather than an oversight, so costs a trader would naturally net off may not be available. The discipline that pays is record-keeping regardless: acquisition cost per transfer, the date, the platform involved and the amount deducted at source, kept transaction by transaction rather than in aggregate. Where a cost turns out not to be deductible you have lost nothing by recording it. Where the computation depends on cost, that record is the only thing supporting it. Exchange exports degrade and accounts get closed.
Do I need to file in India if the platform already deducted the tax?
The deduction does not close the matter. It is collected transfer by transfer and is not a computation of your liability, so filing is what reconciles the two and what puts your characterisation of the transactions on record rather than the platform's. Filing is also the only route to a refund where more was collected than was due, and the only place a treaty position can be taken. For a non-resident there is a further reason: deductions are recorded against your Indian identifier, and an identifier carrying deductions with no return attached invites correspondence.
Does a tax treaty stop India taxing my crypto gains?
Possibly, and it depends on how the gain is characterised before any article is opened. A treaty allocates taxing rights between defined categories of income, so the question of which category a transfer of a virtual digital asset falls into comes first, and the answer is not always obvious. We work in that order: characterise the transaction, read the article that follows, then test what the platform actually deducted against that position. The point is then taken openly on the Indian return, where it can be seen, rather than relied on silently by not filing.
How do I get back tax withheld in another country?
By the route that country provides, and it is rarely automatic. Where an elective return is available — on rent or pension income, for instance — filing it recomputes the tax on net income and refunds the difference. Where it is not, you file a refund claim with the withholding authority, supported by evidence of your residence and entitlement to the treaty rate. Both take time, which is why fixing the rate before payment is worth more. See withholding refund and recovery.
How many days can I spend in a country before I become tax resident?
It depends on the country, and a day count is only ever the start. Many use a threshold in a tax year, some also look at averages across several years, and some have no day test at all and decide on where your home and life are. Two countries can both conclude you are resident, which is what the treaty tie-breaker exists to settle. Counting days without checking the tie-breaker is how people end up filing as resident nowhere. See the residency tie-breaker.
