Nearly ₹96 crore recovered as GST evasion dues from cryptocurrency exchanges: Union Finance Ministry

Nearly 96 crore rupees have been recovered from cryptocurrency exchanges towards dues payable for evading Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Union Finance Ministry revealed on Monday. .Information regarding details of recovery of such dues with interest and penalty from the cryptocurrency exchanges was shared in the Lok Sabha on Monday..The reply came to a question posed by DMK Member of Parliament S Ramalingam about the number of cryptocurrency exchanges and the action taken against those who allegedly evaded paying GST. Union Finance Minister of State Pankaj Chaudhary admitted that a few cases of GST evasion by such exchanges have been detected by Central GST formations. The reply shared the following data in this regard:.More than ₹49 crore was recovered from WazirX, while over ₹17 crore was taken from Coin DCX, and CoinSwitch Kuber was made to pay ₹16 crore..Earlier this month, a question by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament from Jabalpur Rakesh Singh had asked the government if it was aware of the use of cryptocurrency for money-laundering by cyber criminals.The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) is investigating 7 cases cases in which cryptocurrency has been used for money laundering, Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary revealed."...some foreign nationals and their Indian associates have laundered the PoC through cryptocurrency accounts at certain exchange platforms. In one of such case an accused has been arrested by ED in the year 2020," the reply added.So far, the ED has attached proceeds of crime amounting to ₹135 crore in these cases..[Read our coverage of the legality of and litigation surrounding cryptocurrency, here].Delhi High Court issues notice in plea against SBI decision to block UPI payments on crypto platform WazirX