The Indian authorities have identified a violation of tax laws by the crypto exchange WazirX, owned by Binance.
A study of the platform's business activity revealed a Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion for Rs 49.2 crores (over $6 million), including interest and fines.
The authorities also turned their attention to other exchanges. According to The Economic Times, CoinDCX, Unocoin, Coinswitch Kuber, and BuyUCoin were the targets of the investigation.
The above case is part of a campaign against tax evasion. The CGST Department is going to cover all cryptocurrency exchanges that fall into the Mumbai zone, and will also intensify this work in the coming days.
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WazirX cited the lack of clarity in the regulation and stated that it is "paying tens of crores in GST every month in good faith."
“There was prevarication in the interpretation of one of the elements, which led to a various calculation of the value-added tax paid. We have voluntarily paid an additional GST. There was no, and there is no intention to evade paying taxes,” the company said.
Binance acquired the Indian cryptocurrency exchange in November 2019.
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In the summer of 2021, the Indian Ministry of Finance's Enforcement Office announced an investigation into WazirX. Later, the media clarified that the authorities were studying the activities of applications controlled by Chinese operators - part of the money was allegedly laundered through the bitcoin exchange.