Government officials in India have declared a tax bill of approximately 97 million dollars on Binance and other digital currency trading platforms.

The Indian government is pursuing tax evasion cases against several cryptocurrency exchanges, including WazirX, CoinDCX, and CoinSwitch Kuber. The unpaid taxes, amounting to a significant sum of $97 million, are related to Goods and Services Tax (GST).

According to India's Finance Minister, Pankaj Chaudhary, the cryptocurrency companies owe the government this substantial amount. The majority of the unpaid taxes, approximately $85 million, is attributed to Binance, a global cryptocurrency exchange that operates in India.

Binance faced allegations in August 2024 for violating GST requirements related to commission fees. Despite obtaining an official license to operate in India in August of the same year, the exchange was temporarily halted in December 2023 due to the lack of a license.

Since then, Binance has been participating in all hearings to resolve current issues in India. The exchange has agreed to pay its tax debt and stated that it is always open to cooperation and committed to fulfilling all tax obligations. However, as of now, the funds agreed to be remitted by Binance have not been received, according to the finance minister.

Binance continues to cooperate with regulatory bodies in India. In fact, the exchange assisted Indian authorities in investigating the Fiewin case in December 2023.

The remaining $12 million in unpaid taxes is distributed among other platforms, including CoinSwitch, UnoCoin, and Flitpay. Authorities have collected $14 million in taxes and penalties from the cryptocurrency companies, but the remaining $97 million remains unpaid.

The details of the cases related to tax evasion investigations against WazirX, CoinDCX, and CoinSwitch Kuber are not yet disclosed. It's unclear which regulator encouraged Binance to liquidate its tax debts of around $85 million.

This development underscores the growing importance of cryptocurrency regulations in India and the need for these exchanges to comply with tax laws. The Indian government is expected to continue its investigations and pursue the outstanding tax payments from the cryptocurrency companies.