The post Binance protests $86M tax bill for unauthorized operations in India appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Binance is protesting an $86 million goods and services tax (GST) bill for its unauthorized operations in India, while America’s securities regulator is looking to streamline its complaint against the digital asset exchange. On August 6, the Times of India reported that the country’s Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) unit in the city of Ahmedabad had issued a show cause notice to Binance demanding a GST payment of Rs 722 crore (1 crore = 10 million rupees, so roughly US$86 million). A source claimed the DGGI’s tax demand is based on “at least Rs 4,000 crore” ($476.5 million) that Binance earned in fees from digital asset transactions involving its India-based customers. While India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) approved Binance registering as a virtual digital asset service provider (VDASP) earlier this year—after lowering the boom on Binance and eight other unauthorized exchanges last December—Binance never registered under the country’s GST framework. Fees collected from Binance’s Indian customers were credited to the account of a Seychelles-based offshoot, Nest Services Limited. The DGGI attempted to contact Binance regarding its GST obligations by emailing Nest Services, as well as Binance entities registered in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland. None of these apparently unstaffed post office boxes replied to these emails but Binance did eventually appoint a local representative to negotiate with the DGGI. The tax demand is the first that the DGGI has issued to a digital asset firm, establishing a precedent that will almost certainly be pursued against other exchanges that have conducted business with Indian customers without permission. The DGGI is also probing the local operations of online gaming platforms and marketplaces for similar failures to ante up what they owe. As the world’s top exchange by trading volume, Binance can easily afford to pay this bill. Its protestations are likely…

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Filed under: News - @ August 7, 2024 11:18 am