Crypto world and digital currency are different things: Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi : Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday addressed a press conference to throw more light on her proposed budget in the parliament. Digital assets, which includes the "crypto world", according to the Finance Minister, are not to be confused with digital currency, which only the central bank can issue.

Cryptocurrency owners have flagged their concern about taxing digital assets when there is no regulation on cryptocurrencies.

"I don't wait till regulations come in place for taxing people who are making profits. Can I?" Ms Sitharaman told reporters at a media briefing after her Budget speech in parliament.

"I said the Reserve Bank (of India) will be issuing a digital currency. A currency becomes, or, a currency is a currency only when it is issued by the central bank, even if it is a crypto. Anything outside of that, even loosely all of it referred to as cryptocurrencies, they are not currencies," Sitharaman said.

"Let's first understand we are not taxing currency that is yet to be issued. And that provision has been now made and the currency in the name of digital rupee will be issued. Exact name you will get a bit later, but the Reserve Bank is the one who is going to issue it. And what Reserve Bank issues is the digital currency. Everything outside of it in the name of digital whatever are assets being created by individuals," the Finance Minister added

"And in transacting those assets if there are profits being made, we are taxing that profit at 30 per cent... There will be a 1 per cent TDS (tax deducted at source) in every transaction in the crypto world. So, the distinctions are very clear. Currency is with the Reserve Bank. That will get issued sometime this year. The transactions happening in the crypto world are of different kinds of assets and for that, every transaction gets taxed," Ms Sitharaman said..