Do I have to report my crypto holdings now, or does the exchange do it for me?
The platform does. Reporting Crypto-Asset Service Providers — Indian exchanges, custodians, wallet providers, broker-dealer platforms and offshore providers servicing Indian users — must report crypto-asset transactions in Form 167 under rules 241 to 244. The compliance burden is placed on the platforms, not on individual investors.
Decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Central Board of Direct Taxes / Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue) on 2026-03-05, reported as Notification G.S.R. 158(E) [No. 19/2026/F. No. 370149/209/2025-TPL], dated 5 March 2026, as corrected by Corrigendum G.S.R. 189(E) [Notification No. 20/2026/F. No. 370149/209/2026-TPL], dated 16 March 2026. It bears on section 285BA, section 285BAA, section 2(47A), section 115BBH, section 194S of the Income Tax Act 1961, in Crypto & Virtual Digital Assets matters.
This is the enforcement side of the virtual digital asset regime rather than a new charge, and it is built on the existing FATCA/CRS machinery by classifying crypto-assets as reportable financial assets within rules 114F to 114H. Watch the calendar: the rule amendments run from 1 January 2026 because the framework works on calendar years, transactions in calendar year 2026 are first reported in 2027, and cross-border exchange of the data begins in April 2027 — which is when offshore holdings of Indian residents come into view. Central bank digital currencies and specified electronic money products are outside the definition of relevant crypto-assets.
Binding on the department, not on the assessee or the courts. An assessee may rely on a circular that is beneficial to them.
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India has committed to the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, and it is being implemented on two separate statutory tracks. One is section 285BAA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, inserted by section 90 of the Finance Act, 2025 and carried into the Income-tax Act, 2025 as section 509, under which rules 241 to 244 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 govern reporting crypto-asset service providers. The other is section 285BA, the existing financial-transaction reporting provision behind the FATCA and Common Reporting Standard machinery in rules 114F, 114G and 114H of the Income-tax Rules, 1962. This notification belongs to the second track: it was made under section 295 read with section 285BA to bring crypto-assets, central bank digital currencies and electronic money products into that existing machinery, and to make the further changes to the Common Reporting Standard that came with the same OECD update. It was corrected a fortnight later by a corrigendum which is what gives it the short title Income-tax (First Amendment) Rules, 2026.
The rules come into force on 1 January 2026, which is before the date of the notification. In rule 114F they insert a definition of 'relevant crypto-asset' - a crypto-asset that is not a central bank digital currency, or is not a specified electronic money product, or for which the reporting crypto-asset service provider has adequately determined that it cannot be used for payment or investment purposes - and definitions of 'central bank digital currencies', meaning any digital fiat currency issued by a central bank, and of 'Specified Electronic Money Product', on five criteria including redeemability at par on demand. For an account other than a U.S. reportable account, 'financial asset' is extended to include any interest, including a futures or forward contract or option, in a relevant crypto-asset; 'depository account' is extended to accounts representing specified electronic money products and accounts holding central bank digital currencies; and 'depository institution' is extended to an entity holding those products for customers. A low-value carve-out is added for a specified electronic money product account whose rolling ninety-day average end-of-day balance never exceeded USD 10,000 in the period. A 'Qualified Non-Profit Entity' is added as a non-reporting financial institution on five stated conditions, and a company foundation or capital-increase account is excluded on five conditions. Rule 114G adds reporting of whether a valid self-certification was given, whether the account is joint and how many holders it has, the type of account and whether it is pre-existing or new, and the role by which a person is a controlling person or equity interest holder; and it relieves a reporting financial institution of reporting gross proceeds to the extent those proceeds are reported under the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework. Rule 114H adjusts the pre-existing account cut-off dates to 1 January 2026 and 31 December 2025 for an account that is a financial account solely by virtue of the amendments to the Common Reporting Standard, and inserts a new sub-rule confining the exchange of crypto-asset information to the administration of taxes.
The design mirrors the OECD framework and the existing FATCA and Common Reporting Standard architecture rather than creating a parallel one. Crypto-assets are brought inside rules 114F to 114H by extending three existing concepts - financial asset, depository account and depository institution - so that the due diligence, self-certification and reporting machinery already applicable to reporting financial institutions reaches them, instead of a separate regime being written. That is also why the amendments carry a 1 January 2026 commencement, before the date of the notification: the framework runs on calendar years, not Indian financial years, and the amended pre-existing account cut-offs are expressed as 31 December 2025 and 1 January 2026. Overlap between the two regimes is managed rather than duplicated: gross proceeds need not be reported under rule 114G to the extent they are reported under the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, and a reporting crypto-asset service provider is relieved under rule 242 where the same requirements are completed in a partner jurisdiction on a substantially similar nexus. Central bank digital currencies and specified electronic money products are deliberately kept out of 'relevant crypto-asset' and handled instead as deposits, which keeps sovereign and regulated e-money instruments inside the deposit-reporting net rather than the crypto one. Because the information will be exchanged with other jurisdictions, the notification closes with an express limit on its use.
For the purposes of rule 114F, 114G and this rule, exchange of any information in respect of any transaction in relevant crypto-assets is only for the limited purposes of administration of taxes by the relevant jurisdiction.
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Handle my notice → Ask a CA on WhatsAppThe platform does. Reporting Crypto-Asset Service Providers — Indian exchanges, custodians, wallet providers, broker-dealer platforms and offshore providers servicing Indian users — must report crypto-asset transactions in Form 167 under rules 241 to 244. The compliance burden is placed on the platforms, not on individual investors. This was decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Central Board of Direct Taxes / Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue) and bears on section 285BA, section 285BAA, section 2(47A), section 115BBH, section 194S of the Income Tax Act 1961. It is reported as Notification G.S.R. 158(E) [No. 19/2026/F. No. 370149/209/2025-TPL], dated 5 March 2026, as corrected by Corrigendum G.S.R. 189(E) [Notification No. 20/2026/F. No. 370149/209/2026-TPL], dated 16 March 2026. This is the enforcement side of the virtual digital asset regime rather than a new charge, and it is built on the existing FATCA/CRS machinery by classifying crypto-assets as reportable financial assets within rules 114F to 114H. Watch the calendar: the rule amendments run from 1 January 2026 because the framework works on calendar years, transactions in calendar year 2026 are first reported in 2027, and cross-border exchange of the data begins in April 2027 — which is when offshore holdings of Indian residents come into view. Central bank digital currencies and specified electronic money products are outside the definition of relevant crypto-assets. If it applies to you, the first step is this: If you run an exchange, custody, wallet or broker-dealer platform, or service Indian users from offshore, work out whether you are a Reporting Crypto-Asset Service Provider and set up Form 167 reporting.
India has committed to the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, and it is being implemented on two separate statutory tracks. One is section 285BAA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, inserted by section 90 of the Finance Act, 2025 and carried into the Income-tax Act, 2025 as section 509, under which rules 241 to 244 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 govern reporting crypto-asset service providers. The other is section 285BA, the existing financial-transaction reporting provision behind the FATCA and Common Reporting Standard machinery in rules 114F, 114G and 114H of the Income-tax Rules, 1962. This notification belongs to the second track: it was made under section 295 read with section 285BA to bring crypto-assets, central bank digital currencies and electronic money products into that existing machinery, and to make the further changes to the Common Reporting Standard that came with the same OECD update. It was corrected a fortnight later by a corrigendum which is what gives it the short title Income-tax (First Amendment) Rules, 2026. The matter was decided on 2026-03-05 by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions (Central Board of Direct Taxes / Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue). On those facts the CBDT Circulars & Instructions held as follows. The rules come into force on 1 January 2026, which is before the date of the notification. In rule 114F they insert a definition of 'relevant crypto-asset' - a crypto-asset that is not a central bank digital currency, or is not a specified electronic money product, or for which the reporting crypto-asset service provider has adequately determined that it cannot be used for payment or investment purposes - and definitions of 'central bank digital currencies', meaning any digital fiat currency issued by a central bank, and of 'Specified Electronic Money Product', on five criteria including redeemability at par on demand. For an account other than a U.S. reportable account, 'financial asset' is extended to include any interest, including a futures or forward contract or option, in a relevant crypto-asset; 'depository account' is extended to accounts representing specified electronic money products and accounts holding central bank digital currencies; and 'depository institution' is extended to an entity holding those products for customers. A low-value carve-out is added for a specified electronic money product account whose rolling ninety-day average end-of-day balance never exceeded USD 10,000 in the period. A 'Qualified Non-Profit Entity' is added as a non-reporting financial institution on five stated conditions, and a company foundation or capital-increase account is excluded on five conditions. Rule 114G adds reporting of whether a valid self-certification was given, whether the account is joint and how many holders it has, the type of account and whether it is pre-existing or new, and the role by which a person is a controlling person or equity interest holder; and it relieves a reporting financial institution of reporting gross proceeds to the extent those proceeds are reported under the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework. Rule 114H adjusts the pre-existing account cut-off dates to 1 January 2026 and 31 December 2025 for an account that is a financial account solely by virtue of the amendments to the Common Reporting Standard, and inserts a new sub-rule confining the exchange of crypto-asset information to the administration of taxes.
The design mirrors the OECD framework and the existing FATCA and Common Reporting Standard architecture rather than creating a parallel one. Crypto-assets are brought inside rules 114F to 114H by extending three existing concepts - financial asset, depository account and depository institution - so that the due diligence, self-certification and reporting machinery already applicable to reporting financial institutions reaches them, instead of a separate regime being written. That is also why the amendments carry a 1 January 2026 commencement, before the date of the notification: the framework runs on calendar years, not Indian financial years, and the amended pre-existing account cut-offs are expressed as 31 December 2025 and 1 January 2026. Overlap between the two regimes is managed rather than duplicated: gross proceeds need not be reported under rule 114G to the extent they are reported under the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, and a reporting crypto-asset service provider is relieved under rule 242 where the same requirements are completed in a partner jurisdiction on a substantially similar nexus. Central bank digital currencies and specified electronic money products are deliberately kept out of 'relevant crypto-asset' and handled instead as deposits, which keeps sovereign and regulated e-money instruments inside the deposit-reporting net rather than the crypto one. Because the information will be exchanged with other jurisdictions, the notification closes with an express limit on its use. In the words reproduced by the source cited on this page: "For the purposes of rule 114F, 114G and this rule, exchange of any information in respect of any transaction in relevant crypto-assets is only for the limited purposes of administration of taxes by the relevant jurisdiction."
It was decided by the CBDT Circulars & Instructions on 2026-03-05 and is reported as Notification G.S.R. 158(E) [No. 19/2026/F. No. 370149/209/2025-TPL], dated 5 March 2026, as corrected by Corrigendum G.S.R. 189(E) [Notification No. 20/2026/F. No. 370149/209/2026-TPL], dated 16 March 2026. Binding on the department, not on the assessee or the courts. An assessee may rely on a circular that is beneficial to them. A CBDT circular or instruction binds officers of the department but not the assessee and not the courts. Where a circular helps you, you may hold the department to it. Where it hurts you, it cannot override the Act or a judgment. On section 285BA, section 285BAA, section 2(47A), section 115BBH, section 194S, the practical question is whether the facts of your own notice match the facts of this case closely enough for the same rule to apply.
It helps the department, and it appears in this library for that reason — you need to know what the Assessing Officer will cite against you. The rules come into force on 1 January 2026, which is before the date of the notification. In rule 114F they insert a definition of 'relevant crypto-asset' - a crypto-asset that is not a central bank digital currency, or is not a specified electronic money product, or for which the reporting crypto-asset service provider has adequately determined that it cannot be used for payment or investment purposes - and definitions of 'central bank digital currencies', meaning any digital fiat currency issued by a central bank, and of 'Specified Electronic Money Product', on five criteria including redeemability at par on demand. For an account other than a U.S. reportable account, 'financial asset' is extended to include any interest, including a futures or forward contract or option, in a relevant crypto-asset; 'depository account' is extended to accounts representing specified electronic money products and accounts holding central bank digital currencies; and 'depository institution' is extended to an entity holding those products for customers. A low-value carve-out is added for a specified electronic money product account whose rolling ninety-day average end-of-day balance never exceeded USD 10,000 in the period. A 'Qualified Non-Profit Entity' is added as a non-reporting financial institution on five stated conditions, and a company foundation or capital-increase account is excluded on five conditions. Rule 114G adds reporting of whether a valid self-certification was given, whether the account is joint and how many holders it has, the type of account and whether it is pre-existing or new, and the role by which a person is a controlling person or equity interest holder; and it relieves a reporting financial institution of reporting gross proceeds to the extent those proceeds are reported under the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework. Rule 114H adjusts the pre-existing account cut-off dates to 1 January 2026 and 31 December 2025 for an account that is a financial account solely by virtue of the amendments to the Common Reporting Standard, and inserts a new sub-rule confining the exchange of crypto-asset information to the administration of taxes. It arises in Crypto & Virtual Digital Assets matters, on section 285BA, section 285BAA, section 2(47A), section 115BBH, section 194S of the Income Tax Act 1961, and was decided by Central Board of Direct Taxes / Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue. Before relying on it, read the source linked on this page and check whether it has since been distinguished, overruled or overtaken by an amendment to the Income Tax Act. In practice the steps that follow from it are these. Tell clients holding assets on offshore platforms that calendar year 2026 data is reported in 2027 and exchanged from April 2027, and reconcile their disclosures before then. Plan the compliance calendar on calendar years, not financial years.
Still good law. In force from 1 January 2026, as corrected. The database annotates the notification 'AS CORRECTED BY CORRIGENDUM G.S.R. 189(E) [Notification No. 20/2026/F. No. 370149/209/2026-TPL], dated 16-3-2026', and it is the corrigendum that supplies the short title 'Income-tax (First Amendment) Rules, 2026'. No later amending or superseding notification is annotated. The CBDT Guidance Note for reporting crypto-asset service providers, said to have followed in July 2026, could not be found in a subscription database and should not be cited without obtaining it. No source could be cited for that finding. Checking whether an authority still stands matters as much as knowing what it held: a decision may be overruled on one point and survive on another, or the provision it interprets may have been amended since. Read the source and the editor's note on this page before relying on it in a reply to an Assessing Officer or in an appeal.
Keep the two tracks apart. This notification is made under section 295 read with section 285BA and amends rules 114F, 114G and 114H of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 - the FATCA and Common Reporting Standard machinery. The obligation on reporting crypto-asset service providers sits elsewhere: section 285BAA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, inserted by section 90 of the Finance Act, 2025, its counterpart section 509 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, and rules 241 to 244 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026. Under rule 242 the obligation attaches by reference to the provider's own connection with India - residence, incorporation under Indian law, legal personality in India or an obligation to file a return under section 263, management from India, a regular place of business in India, or transactions through an Indian branch - and falls away where the same requirements are completed in a partner jurisdiction on a substantially similar nexus. It is not a test of whether the provider services Indian users. Most of what this notification does is not about crypto at all: it adds a Qualified Non-Profit Entity exclusion, a company foundation and capital-increase account exclusion, joint-account and self-certification reporting, and revised pre-existing account cut-offs. The corrigendum G.S.R. 189(E) of 16 March 2026 was not read separately, so what else it corrected beyond the short title is unknown. Rules 241, 243 and 244 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 were not read, so Form 167, the reporting period and the due date remain unverified, as does the penalty for default. The CBDT Guidance Note said to have issued in July 2026 could not be found. Nothing read states when reporting for calendar year 2026 falls due or when cross-border exchange under the framework begins. This library shows the verification state of every entry openly. This entry has not yet been read in full by a chartered accountant. The summary reflects the sources listed on this page. Read the source before you rely on it in a reply to an Assessing Officer or in an appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) or the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.
The rules come into force on 1 January 2026, which is before the date of the notification. In rule 114F they insert a definition of 'relevant crypto-asset' - a crypto-asset that is not a central bank digital currency, or is not a specified electronic money product, or for which the reporting crypto-asset service provider has adequately determined that it cannot be used for payment or investment purposes - and definitions of 'central bank digital currencies', meaning any digital fiat currency issued by a central bank, and of 'Specified Electronic Money Product', on five criteria including redeemability at par on demand. For an account other than a U.S. reportable account, 'financial asset' is extended to include any interest, including a futures or forward contract or option, in a relevant crypto-asset; 'depository account' is extended to accounts representing specified electronic money products and accounts holding central bank digital currencies; and 'depository institution' is extended to an entity holding those products for customers. A low-value carve-out is added for a specified electronic money product account whose rolling ninety-day average end-of-day balance never exceeded USD 10,000 in the period. A 'Qualified Non-Profit Entity' is added as a non-reporting financial institution on five stated conditions, and a company foundation or capital-increase account is excluded on five conditions. Rule 114G adds reporting of whether a valid self-certification was given, whether the account is joint and how many holders it has, the type of account and whether it is pre-existing or new, and the role by which a person is a controlling person or equity interest holder; and it relieves a reporting financial institution of reporting gross proceeds to the extent those proceeds are reported under the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework. Rule 114H adjusts the pre-existing account cut-off dates to 1 January 2026 and 31 December 2025 for an account that is a financial account solely by virtue of the amendments to the Common Reporting Standard, and inserts a new sub-rule confining the exchange of crypto-asset information to the administration of taxes.
TaxSphere, “CBDT Notification 19/2026 on crypto reporting”, https://taxnotice.vittsphere.com/caselaw/case/cbdt-notification-19-2026-crypto-reporting/ (validity last checked 2026-08-19)
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