To calculate tax on Bitcoin profit in India, take what you sold it for, subtract what you paid for it, and multiply the gain by 30%. Add 4% cess on that tax (and surcharge if your income is high enough). Then subtract the 1% TDS that was already deducted on the sale. What remains is what you still owe when you file. If the TDS is more than your tax, the excess comes back as a refund.
Our free Bitcoin tax calculator does exactly this arithmetic in your browser and stores nothing. You need three numbers: what you paid, what you sold for, and the TDS on your statement. Below are three worked examples, including the one that surprises almost everyone: a gain and a loss in the same year.
The maths is simple. The mistakes are not
I co-founded Unocoin in 2013, years before India had a crypto tax regime. The 30% rule came in through the Finance Act 2022, and its formula fits on a sticky note. Yet the common mistakes listed in our own tax guides keep coming back, and the two biggest are these.
The first is netting losses. People add up all their trades for the year, see a small overall gain, and pay tax on that. Indian law does not allow it. Each gain is taxed, and losses reduce nothing.
The second is forgetting the TDS. Every time you sell on an Indian platform above the threshold, 1% of the sale value is deducted and deposited against your PAN. That money is yours. If you do not claim it in your return, you have paid it twice.
A calculator fixes the arithmetic. It cannot fix those two habits for you, so keep them in mind as you read the examples.
What the calculator needs: buy value, sell value, TDS
Gather these before you start:
- Cost of acquisition: what you paid for the Bitcoin you sold. Under section 115BBH this is the only deduction allowed. No platform fees as a separate expense, no internet bill, no interest.
- Sale value: what you received when you sold, swapped or spent it.
- TDS deducted: 1% of the sale value, shown on your platform statement and in Form 26AS and your AIS on the income tax portal.
The calculator then shows four lines: the 30% tax on your gain, the 4% cess, the TDS already deducted, and what is left to pay. It does not include surcharge, because surcharge depends on your total income from every source. If your income is high, ask your CA to add it.
All the examples below are made up to show the method. Your numbers will be different.
Example 1: a simple gain
You bought Bitcoin for ₹1,00,000. Months later you sold all of it for ₹1,40,000.
- Gain: ₹1,40,000 minus ₹1,00,000 = ₹40,000
- Tax at 30%: ₹12,000
- Cess at 4% of ₹12,000: ₹480
- Total tax: ₹12,480
- TDS already deducted (1% of ₹1,40,000): ₹1,400
- Left to pay when you file: ₹11,080
Notice that the TDS is calculated on the ₹1,40,000 sale value, not on the ₹40,000 gain. That is how section 194S works (now section 393 under the Income-tax Act, 2025). It is an advance, not the final bill.
Also notice what is not here: any reduction for how long you held the Bitcoin. The 30% is flat whether you held it for a week or for years.
Example 2: a gain and a loss in the same year
This is the example from our own tax guide, and it is the one that matters most.
In one financial year you made a gain of ₹40,000 on one asset and a loss of ₹30,000 on another. Most people expect to pay tax on ₹10,000. You do not.
- Tax: 30% of ₹40,000 = ₹12,000
- Cess: ₹480
- Total tax: ₹12,480
- Effect of the ₹30,000 loss: none
VDA losses cannot be set off against any other income, including a gain on a different coin, and they cannot be carried forward to next year. So when you use the calculator, run each profitable sale on its own. Do not enter your net result for the year.
The TDS on both sales still counts as tax paid, so add up the TDS from every sale, including the losing one, when you work out what is left to pay. Our losses guide explains the rule in more depth.
Example 3: where TDS leaves you owing, or due a refund
Say your only sale of the year was at a loss. You bought for ₹1,00,000 and sold for ₹70,000.
- Gain: none. You lost ₹30,000.
- Tax on this sale: ₹0
- TDS deducted (1% of ₹70,000): ₹700
That ₹700 sits against your PAN. When you file, you claim it in the tax-paid section. It counts toward your total tax for the year from all sources. If your total TDS and other taxes paid come to more than you owe, the excess is refunded after your return is processed.
Now flip it. Say your sales were small and fell within the TDS threshold, so nothing was deducted, but you made a gain. The calculator will show TDS as zero and the full tax as left to pay. The thresholds are ₹50,000 in a financial year where the payer is a "specified person", and ₹10,000 for other payers. Being under the TDS threshold does not mean you are under any tax threshold. The 30% applies to the gain regardless.
What the calculator cannot do for you
A calculator is only as good as the numbers you put in. Here is what it will not handle:
- Working out your cost when you bought at many different prices. If you bought every week through a plan, you need records of what you paid for the units you sold. Ask a CA which method to use.
- Surcharge, which depends on your total income.
- Gifts, airdrops, mining and staking. These have their own rules. A gift of Bitcoin worth more than ₹50,000 in a year from someone who is not a specified relative can be taxed as income at your slab rate, for example.
- Crypto futures and options, whose tax treatment is unsettled. Do not use a VDA calculator for derivatives.
- Deciding whether your trades are capital gains or business income. That choice changes which ITR form you use.
From the calculator to your ITR
Once you have your numbers, they go into Schedule VDA. That schedule sits in ITR-2 (no business income) and ITR-3 (business or professional income). ITR-1 cannot be used if you have VDA income. For each sale you enter the date acquired, the date transferred, the head of income, the cost and the sale value. Report every transfer, including the losing ones and any swaps.
Then enter your TDS in the tax-paid section so it is credited. Before you submit, compare your figures with Form 26AS and your AIS. Exchanges now report more of your activity than ever, so your return should match their records.
Our Schedule VDA guide walks through each field.
Check with a CA
The calculator gives you a quick, private estimate. It is not tax advice, and I am not your tax adviser. If you traded often, bought through a plan, received Bitcoin as a gift or used platforms outside India, a CA will be worth every rupee.
But do run your numbers now, before you sell, not after. Knowing what you will owe is the best protection against a surprise in July.
Common questions
How do I calculate tax on crypto in India?
Subtract what you paid from what you sold for to get the gain, multiply by 30%, add 4% cess on the tax and surcharge if applicable, then subtract the 1% TDS already deducted. Losses on other sales do not reduce the gain.
Is cess added on crypto tax?
Yes. 4% health and education cess applies on the 30% tax. The IndiaBitcoin calculator shows it as a separate line. Surcharge may also apply at higher incomes and is not included in the calculator.
Does the calculator include TDS?
Yes. You enter the 1% TDS deducted on your sale, and the calculator subtracts it from your total tax to show what is left to pay.
Can I use the calculator for ITR filing?
Use it as an estimate. Your ITR needs every transfer entered separately in Schedule VDA with dates, cost and sale value, and your TDS claimed in the tax-paid section. Check the final figures with a CA.