IT asks bitcoin owners to divulge source of income, unique ID and wallets used for transactions

After an initial investigation at major bitcoin exchanges, the Income Tax (IT) department has asked bitcoin owners to divulge the details of transactions they did.

The taxman issued notices to 4-5 lakh high net worth individuals (HNIs) under the annexure to a summons under Section 131 of the Income Tax Act, reports Mint.

The notice asks about capital gains made by cryptocurrency or bitcoin traders on a yearly basis with detail statement. Bitcoin holders will have to furnish details about the source of investment, and wallet’s public key in which they are stored.

Traders are being also asked to provide whether returns have been filed on the gain from the sale of cryptocurrencies as income or not. It also asks to attach details pertaining to the advance tax filed for the gains made in the current year.

The IT department sent out summons to those who were involved in bitcoin transactions under Section 131.

Currently, the summons is meant to derive information about unreported income gained through bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies trade, mention report citing the anonymous source.

The notice includes information seeking incomes made from the initial investments in cryptocurrencies. The Income Tax notice also wants details about bitcoin or cryptocurrency exchanges the trading accounts are linked to.

“You as an bitcoin or cryptocurrency holder will have to provide details of all the wallets you are using along with your Unique ID number. The department also wants to know whether you are using physical hardware wallet for storing your bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies,” says the I-T notice accessed by Mint.

Earlier this month, the taxman conducted surveys across cryptocurrency exchanges in the country.

The survey reportedly gathered evidence for establishing the identity of investors and traders, related parties, transactions details and accounts involved in trading virtual currencies.

The survey findings contain information of the individual and organizations obtained from surveying exchanges.