Crypto Crunch: India Imposes 18% GST on Exchange Service Charges.

Effective July 7, 2025, India has imposed an 18% Goods and Services Tax on fees and commissions levied by cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms, covering services for trading, withdrawals, staking, auto-conversions, OTC transactions, and wallet maintenance—but not the underlying crypto buy/sell value itself.

At the point of transaction, all Indian users and entities pay the GST via their service providers. Should they not register in India or face a reverse-charge obligation, offshore trades catering to Indian consumers must force consumers to self-assess and pay the tax if the platform is not locally registered.

One of the most taxing digital-asset tax systems in the world, this GST comes on top of the current 30% tax on crypto profits and the 1% TDS on transactions. Analysts caution that the increased price could discourage traders from authorized venues and push trading to offshore or illicit markets.