INDIA: Binance accused of tax evasion by India’s finance department

India’s Finance Ministry has alleged crypto exchange Binance evaded almost $85 million in tax – the vast majority of around $96 million it claims digi-dollar outfits haven’t paid.

Binance’s alleged misdeed was revealed in an answer [PDF] to a parliamentary question that called on finance minister Pankaj Chaudhary to detail whether any cryptocurrency exchanges were involved in evasion of Goods and Services Tax (GST), and if any are under investigation.

The question was asked by a member of the government so it will come as no surprise that minister Chaudhary had an answer ready. The minister indicated his Ministry is on top of the issue, having registered 47 Virtual Digital Asset Service Providers (a jump of 19 in the past year) and that 17 have been investigated for avoiding GST – India’s sales tax – to the tune of a collective ₹824.14 Crore ($96 million).

By far the biggest source of outstanding taxes is Binance Group company M/s Nest Services Limited, which owes ₹722.43 Crore ($85 million).

Binance announced it had secured registration to operate in India on August 15 – an achievement that came after it paid a $2.5 million fine for operating without approval and failing to comply with rules designed to stamp out money laundering. India banned Binance from operating for seven months while it sorted out that situation.

In its August announcement, Binance trumpeted that “commitment to compliance is fundamental to our business strategy, focusing on secure, transparent, and efficient operations. … As Binance expands in India, it aims to foster responsible growth and contribute to the global evolution of digital assets while elevating local market standards and ensuring stronger user protections.”

But apparently not GST payments.

Binance was banned in the Philippines for operating without a license, and also operated in the US without approval – a decision that earned it $10 billion in fines and settlement costs after the Department of Justice acted against the exchange.

The second-highest sum of avoided GST on India’s list is attributed to a biz controlled by Indian crypto outfit WazirX, which made news in July after it was robbed of $230 million in assets and paused its operations following an incident thought to be the work of North Korean operatives. Police in New Delhi recently arrested a man they believe had a role in the alleged theft.

And just to make this story nicely circular, check out this Monday Xeet from Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, who pointed to a 2022 post in which he encouraged WazirX users to move to Binance because he could disable the Indian outfit’s wallets. That’s been widely interpreted as Zhao predicting future trouble at WazirX.