Union Budget 2022: Indian Startup Founders & Investors Hail Crypto Tax

Union Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman today presented the Union Budget 2022. In her speech, she claimed that this year’s Budget will lay parallel track of a blueprint for Amrit Kaal – which will directly benefit youth, farmers, SCs and STs and big public investment for modern infrastructure, readying India at 100 years of independence.

The Finance Minister at the onset of her speech reiterated how fintech startups are empowering digital payment, which is helping India lead towards Atmanirbhar Bharat. However, the imposition of 30% tax on income of crypto and NFTs was one of the major takeaways from the Budget.

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Welcoming the 30% tax imposition on crypto income along with NFTs, startup founders shared their reactions through different posts: Here’s a look at who said what on Twitter:

Nischal Shetty, founder and CEO of WazirX tweeted saying that he hopes the Budget 2022 will assuage fear of crypto ban among citizens. 

Sumit Gupta, cofounder and CEO of CoinDCX wrote on the micro blogging site that taxation of virtual digital assets or crypto is a step in the right direction. 

Ashish Singhal of Coinswitch Kuber tweeted that crypto is not under shadows anymore. 

Sumit Ghosh of Chingari expressed his happiness by tweeting– India has officially legalised crypto and said that innovation by crypto startups will follow. 

Nitin Sharma of Antler Global commented on the definition of ‘digital assets’.

Sriram Krishnan, who joined as a general partner in a16Z recently tweeted saying that it was interesting to see the Budget’s take on crypto.

Suumit Shah, cofounder of retail tech startup Dukaan tweeted that there is a huge potential in India to build crypto tax software.

The government has also proposed to launch its much anticipated sovereign-backed central bank digital currency (CBDC)  or ‘digital rupee’ in 2022-2023.

Paytm’s founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, who is quite popular on Indian Twitter space supported the move with his tweet too. 

Raajeev Mantri of Navam Capital shared similar enthusiasm as he tweeted:

Neeraj Khandelwal of CoinDCX also voiced his support for CBDC in a tweet and said the move is a clear signal for a digital-first, efficiency-driven,and transparency-led system.

Kunal Bhal, founder of IPO-bound ecommerce major Snapdeal, called the introduction of CBDC as “monumental step” in his tweet.

Ashsih Fafadia of Blume Venture giving an overview of the Budget highlighted that allocation for drones, digitisation of records, connecting post offices of 2 Cr banking solutions can be big enablers for the rural and underserved economy of the country. He further supported the government’s push for EV that was reflected in the Budget.

It was surprising not to see any tweet from the founders of popular EV startups in the country, Bhavish Aggarwal of Ola Electric and Tarun Mehta of Ather Energy on the Budget announcement. 

As in the Budget, the finance minister said that, “The private sector will be encouraged to develop sustainable and innovative business models for ‘Battery or Energy as a Service’. This will improve efficiency in the EV ecosystem.” 

Further, in her Section B of the speech, there was a separate mention of ‘Incentives for Startups’. Under the topic, the FM mentioned that startups have emerged as drivers of growth for India’s economy. The government has taken cognisance of the impact startups have created during the pandemic. 

The government has earlier stated that startups established before 31 March of 2022 have been provided a tax incentive for three consecutive years out of ten years from the date of incorporation. However, the government has now proposed to extend the period of incorporation to one year for eligible startups, i.e., to 31 March of 2023. 

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