Crypto gift tax calculator (India)
By BtcMedia Research · Updated
A crypto gift is tested twice in India: when you receive it (from a friend, the whole value is taxed at your slab once the year's gifts cross ₹50,000) and when you sell it (31.2% of the gain). A gift from a relative is tax-free, but the giver's buy price comes with the coins. This calculator shows both routes side by side.
From real prices: A friend bought ₹10,000 of bitcoin on Diwali 2020 (14 Nov 2020). At the 30 Oct 2026 close it is worth ₹61,038. Gifted to you now, it crosses ₹50,000, so the whole ₹61,038 is your income: ₹19,044 in tax at a 30% slab. From a relative nothing is taxed now, but selling at that value costs ₹15,924. And ₹1 matters at the line: ₹50,000 from a friend is tax-free, ₹50,001 costs ₹15,600 at 30%. The calculator below starts with this example.
Your gift
At the price on the day the coins reached your wallet.
Their buy price. Leave blank if unknown (treated as nil).
Shares, jewellery, gold or silver, art or other crypto received free. Not cash: cash gifts have their own separate ₹50,000 test.
Under the new regime the 87A rebate can make slab tax nil up to ₹12 lakh of income; pick 0% then. The 31.2% on a sale still applies.
Who counts as a relative?
Your spouse; brothers and sisters; your spouse's brothers and sisters; your parents' brothers and sisters; lineal ascendants and descendants of you or your spouse (grandparents, parents, children, grandchildren); and the spouses of all of these. For an HUF, its members. Friends, cousins, nephews, nieces and a fiancé(e) are not relatives.
Result
Crossing the ₹50,000 line costs you ₹19,044 in tax now, because the whole ₹61,038 is taxed, not just the excess. Kept to ₹50,000, this gift would be tax-free on receipt. Your cost is now ₹61,038, the value already taxed. Selling for ₹61,038 means ₹0 in tax, ₹19,044 in all. The same gift from a relative: ₹15,924 in total tax.
| Item | This gift (from a friend) | Same gift from a relative |
|---|---|---|
| Value taxed as income on receipt | ₹61,038 | ₹0 |
| Tax on receipt (slab + 4% cess) | ₹19,044 | ₹0 |
| Other gifts pulled into tax by this one | ₹0 | ₹0 |
| Your cost when you sell | ₹61,038 | ₹10,000 |
| Taxable gain on sale | ₹0 | ₹51,038 |
| Tax on sale (31.2%) | ₹0 | ₹15,924 |
| Total tax | ₹19,044 | ₹15,924 |
1% TDS deducted on the sale (a credit, not an extra tax): ₹610
Assumptions: receiver is a resident individual; receipt taxed at your top (marginal) slab plus 4% cess; sale at 30% plus 4% cess = 31.2%; no surcharge; a loss can't be set off. The ₹50,000 line applies to all non-relative gifts of property (not cash) across the whole tax year (April to March), together.
The ₹50,000 line, in old bitcoin
How much bitcoin bought on each Diwali is worth exactly ₹50,000 at the 30 Oct 2026 close (₹73,28,931 per BTC), the most a friend can gift you tax-free. And the tax if you sell that gift (or the same from a relative) at that value, because the giver's cost comes with it.
| Diwali | BTC price then | Cost then of ₹50,000 today | Tax if you sell |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Oct 2014 | ₹21,854 | ₹149 | ₹15,553 |
| 11 Nov 2015 | ₹20,527 | ₹140 | ₹15,556 |
| 30 Oct 2016 | ₹46,574 | ₹318 | ₹15,501 |
| 19 Oct 2017 | ₹3,70,574 | ₹2,528 | ₹14,811 |
| 7 Nov 2018 | ₹4,71,316 | ₹3,215 | ₹14,597 |
| 27 Oct 2019 | ₹6,77,626 | ₹4,623 | ₹14,158 |
| 14 Nov 2020 | ₹12,00,717 | ₹8,192 | ₹13,044 |
| 4 Nov 2021 | ₹45,73,833 | ₹31,204 | ₹5,864 |
| 24 Oct 2022 | ₹16,00,303 | ₹10,918 | ₹12,194 |
| 12 Nov 2023 | ₹30,88,893 | ₹21,073 | ₹9,025 |
| 1 Nov 2024 | ₹58,41,329 | ₹39,851 | ₹3,166 |
| 21 Oct 2025 | ₹95,33,485 | ₹65,040 | ₹0 (a ₹15,040 loss you can't set off) |
₹149 of bitcoin from Diwali 2014 is worth ₹50,000 today. It is tax-free to receive, but selling it costs ₹15,553, because your cost stays ₹149. Diwali 2025 buyers are the reverse: ₹50,000 of today's value cost them ₹65,040, so selling a gift from them books a ₹15,040 loss that can't be set off against anything.
Prices: Bitstamp daily close (UTC) × ECB USD/INR; Diwali dates are the Lakshmi Puja / NSE Muhurat trading days.
When the taxable route is cheaper
In the example above, the friend's gift costs ₹19,044 at a 30% slab and the relative's ₹15,924. At a 5% slab, the same friend's gift costs ₹3,174 in all, ₹12,750 less than the relative route, if you sell at that value. The reason: the value taxed on receipt becomes your cost, so the giver's old profit is taxed at your low slab instead of 31.2%. It is not a trick, just how the rules add up; the gift has to be genuine.
Read more: Staking, airdrop and gift tax in India
FAQ
Is gifting crypto taxable in India?
For the receiver, sometimes. Crypto (VDA) is "prescribed movable property" under the gift rule. If the total value of such property (shares, jewellery, bullion, art, crypto) you receive free from friends or other non-relatives in a tax year is more than ₹50,000, the whole amount is income from other sources at your slab. At ₹50,000 or less, nothing. The giver pays no tax on a gift.
Can you gift crypto tax-free?
On receipt, yes: from a relative, on your marriage, or by will or inheritance at any value, and from friends up to ₹50,000 in all in a year. On sale, no: the giver's buy price becomes your cost and every rupee above it is taxed at 30% plus 4% cess.
What is my cost when I sell gifted crypto?
If the gift was taxed on receipt, the value taxed is your cost (section 49(4) of the 1961 Act). If it was tax-free, the giver's cost carries over (section 49(1), now section 73 of the Income-tax Act, 2025). So ask the giver for proof of their buy date and price.
Is 1% TDS deducted on a crypto gift?
Not on the gift, because nothing is paid. When you later sell on an Indian exchange, 1% of the sale value is deducted as TDS and credited against your tax in the ITR.
What if I gift crypto to my spouse?
A spouse is a relative, so there is no tax on receipt. But under the clubbing rules, income from those coins, including the gain on sale, can be added to the giver's income. The same applies to a gift to your son's wife. Crypto is taxed at 31.2% either way, so it saves nothing; it only changes who reports it.
Sources: Income Tax Department: tax on gifts · Income-tax Act, 1961, section 49 (cost of gifted assets) · Income-tax Act, 2025 (Gazette) · Income Tax Department: taxation of VDA · Prices: Bitstamp daily close × ECB USD/INR. Rules checked on 1 November 2026.
Not tax advice. This is an educational estimate. For large amounts, NRIs or HUFs, ask a chartered accountant before filing your ITR.
Related: Crypto tax calculator · Staking and airdrop tax · Bitcoin on Diwali
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Updates to this page
Last updated . We log every material change. Spot an error? See our corrections policy.
- Tool launched: crypto gift tax calculator. The ₹50,000 aggregate rule for gifts from non-relatives (whole value taxed at slab + 4% cess once crossed, including other gifts pulled over the line), exempt givers (relatives, marriage, will or inheritance), the cost that carries over on sale (s.49 / s.73 of the 2025 Act), 31.2% on the sale with no loss set-off, and this gift vs the same gift from the other kind of giver. Real-price table: how much bitcoin bought on each Diwali since 2014 is worth ₹50,000 today.