India: Use Tax Compliant Platform To Comply With Budget

India: Use Tax Compliant Platform To Comply With Budget

Union Budget 2023 had to offer very little for virtual digital assets (VDA) sector. In fact, the Finance Minister carefully avoided even mentioning about the VDA. However, the industry players took it in stride by acknowledging the fact that they need to abide by the current dispensation. They have advised using tax compliant platform while are hopeful of rise in Web3 & Crypto adoption.

The recent budget has brought gains from overseas cryptocurrencies / VDA under the tax purview. Non abidance of which invites Rs 10 lakh penalty or seven year imprisonment.

“I think the adoption of Web3 and crypto has grown a lot in India. But pertaining to this with the VDA industry, stakeholders are kind of disappointed by the Finance minister not mentioning the sector in her Union budget speech on 1st of February,” said Anndy Lian, Author & advisor for the Mongolian Productivity Organization.

While providing a perspective from across the border and being a staunch advocate of cryptocurrency, Lian believes that the budget 2023 has established its priority towards tax collection.

“I would just want to say that don’t try to avoid TDS by using offshore. You may be penalized as per section 271C of the income tax Act if you are investing in a Crypto,” Lian warned adding that, “Try to use a tax compliant platform, again the words used are fairly ambiguous”.

Similar views were aired by other experts tracking VDA sector.

According to a recent analysis, India’s cumulative trade volume in VDA changed by INR 32,000 crore between February and October 2022. “We expected that in the 2023 budget, the government would t alter VDA taxation, thereby reducing tax burden and eliminating uncertainties. But sadly we are still holding last years baby!,” says Raj Kapoor, founder, India Blockchain Alliance.

He went on to add that VDA taxes impact both residents and non-residents. Without a clear set of criteria to identify when NRs in India become subject to taxation, it has now become critical to understand the status of VDAs, especially when they are exchanged via or sold to Indian citizens. Clear standards in this sector are required to clear the air and promote international investment.

Joining the bandwagon in support of VDA traders is Tax Expert, Sonu Jain, who says “Many Indian users were purchasing crypto assets using International Credit cards or funds transfer. This will now reduce significantly since the TCS has been increased to 20%.”

Concerned by the tax imposition, Jain said, “So every funds transfer under LRS will be leviable to 20% TCS. For example, If a user wishes to buy crypto worth ₹100, then ₹20 will have to be paid as TCS.” This will significantly reduce direct International crypto purchases by Indians..

India assumed the presidency of the G20 summit, and there are hopes with regards to the country moving towards a more favorable ecosystem for crypto in general. Most importantly, India has started 450 web3 startups with an average inflow of 1.3 billion dollars in 2022 according to DYDX foundation. According to media reports there are over 75,000 blockchain employees working in India, raking 3rd in the global list of employers.

 

Source: https://www.3-verse.io/3versetv/blog/use-tax-compliant-platform-to-comply-with-budget/BA-20230203181601187-721508

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

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Binance rolls out new features for Web3-focused social platform Binance Feed

Binance rolls out new features for Web3-focused social platform Binance Feed
  • The new Binance Feed version features new utility, including fully customizable user profiles.
  • The platform has registered more than 1 million daily active users and 1,200 content creators since its launch in October.
  • Binance Feed offers access to content across 400+ cryptocurrency and Web3-focused topics.

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance has today unveiled new features for its Web3-focused social platform Binance Feed.

According to details the exchange shared with CoinJournal on Thursday, the new features will allow users to experience crypto news and content creation seamlessly on different devices.

The updated version also features a redesigned profile section that offers full customizability for creators and a ‘poll’ and ‘emoji animations’ section that allows for dynamic and interactive engagements for the community members.

That’s not all.

According to the press release, there’s a “comment” feature that the community can tap into to foster greater engagement and participation.

A platform for latest Web3 news and trends

Binance launched the Binance Feed platform in October this year, designing it as a single touchpoint for the crypto community to access the latest trends and news in crypto and Web3. The social platform brings together content creators, thought leaders and influencers and covers more than 400 topics within the crypto and Web3 space.

Binance Feed gives me news on the move and at times faster than Twitter. That’s the reason why I am using it. Compared to other platforms, Binance has a more active base of users, and the feeds are more timely,” Anndy Lian, a Binance Feed contributor, said in a statement.

Since its debut, the social platform has registered nearly one million daily active users, with 50% month-over-month growth. There are also more than 1,200 creators currently sharing content, while some of the leading crypto publications have registered more than 30,000 followers already.

The service has been accessible on the App Pro Mode since its launch, and also on desktop from November this year.

Source: htttps://coinjournal.net/news/binance-rolls-out-new-features-for-web3-focused-social-platform-binance-feed/

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

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Magic Eden, largest Solana-based NFT platform, makes royalty fees optional

Magic Eden, largest Solana-based NFT platform, makes royalty fees optional

The platform said the move was in line with growing market trends, but some are concerned about what it means for the industry.

Magic Eden, the largest non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace in the Solana ecosystem, has moved to make paying NFT creator royalty fees optional, following in the footsteps of rival marketplaces which have eaten into its market share in recent months.

The platform will also be waiving all platform fees for the foreseeable future, Magic Eden said in a Twitter thread announcing the changes on Saturday.

Anndy Lian, author of the new book “NFT: From Zero to Hero,” told Forkast the attempt to win back users by lowering or removing fees surprised him as he was doubtful of the long-term sustainability of the plan.

“For [an] NFT platform, where the secondary market is at a really bad situation right now, I am doubtful whether the zero fees are going to work very well,” he said.

NFT royalties give the original creator a percentage of the sale price each time that NFT creation is sold.

Magic Eden is a giant in the Solana ecosystem, controlling roughly 90% of all sales, and almost nine times the Solana sales of leading NFT marketplace OpenSea, which added support for Solana NFTs in April 2022.

Magic Eden also raised US$130 in series B fundraising in June, bringing its valuation to US$1.6 billion, and cementing its status as a “unicorn,” a privately held start-up with a valuation over US$1 billion.

“This is not a decision we take lightly,” Magic Eden said in a tweet announcing the move, while also acknowledging the industry has been slowly moving towards optional creator royalties for a while. “We understand this move has serious implications for the ecosystem. We also hope it is not a permanent decision.”

Royalties for NFTs are typically set to between 5% and 10% and are often encoded into the smart contract of the NFT itself. Marketplaces are able to rework the code around the sales of these NFTs, however, effectively allowing them to set the fees to whatever they like.

In the case of Magic Eden now, that fee now will be left up to the user to decide whether or not to pay. However, if users choose not to pay the fee, they risk being excluded from the full utility or perks of owning the NFT, the platform warned.

Removing this structure incentivizes creators to lift their prices in order to compensate for this loss of income, he said, which could add extra pressure to an already struggling market that is currently extremely sensitive to pricing.

The issue is compounded if smaller marketplaces follow Magic Eden’s lead, which Lian said they will be incentivized to do.

“So, it goes back to the whole equation: How long is this bear market going to be and how long can you sustain that kind of strategy?” Lian said, “If I’m not wrong, maybe [Magic Eden] can for the next two, three, four years, maybe. But I’m not so sure about the rest.”

Lian explained this was being done to artificially increase an NFT’s trading volume to give the impression it is more highly sought-after than it actually is. This not only discredits the industry but deceives unwitting buyers into potentially paying inflated prices for NFTs.

The issue has become so prevalent on Magic Eden in the few days since fees were removed that OpenSea has since announced it is in the process of temporarily blocking Solana collections from the Top and Trending list on its homepage to avoid “gaming” those numbers.

Secondary monthly NFT sales in September were only US$550 million, an almost 90% decrease from its high in January 2022. NFT creators, marketplaces and collectors alike have had to make difficult choices about how to respond to the difficult market conditions.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty. Based on the current charts, we should still be going down or going sideways for the next quarter or so,” he said.

 

Source: Magic Eden, largest Solana-based NFT platform, makes royalty fees optional (forkast.news)

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

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