Schedule VDA is the part of your income tax return where you report every sale, swap or spend of Bitcoin and other virtual digital assets. It sits in ITR-2 (if you have no business income) and ITR-3 (if you have business or professional income). You cannot use ITR-1 if you have any VDA income. For each transfer you enter the date you acquired it, the date you transferred it, the head of income, the cost of acquisition, the sale value and the resulting income.
For the 2026-27 assessment year, ITR-2 was due on 31 July 2026. Non-audit ITR-3 and ITR-4 filers have until 31 August 2026, after Budget 2026 moved that date. If you trade Bitcoin as a business and file ITR-3, you still have a couple of weeks. This guide walks through the schedule field by field, shows how to handle losses and TDS, and covers what to do if you missed 31 July.
The boring habit that keeps you out of trouble
I co-founded Unocoin in 2013, long before India had a separate tax regime for crypto. I have watched the reporting rules go from almost nothing to a full schedule in the ITR, and now to exchanges reporting your trades directly to the department.
Through all of it, one habit separates the people who never get a notice from the people who do: they report every single sale. Even the small ones. Even the ones where they lost money and owe nothing. It is boring. It takes an extra half hour. And it is the single best protection a Bitcoin holder in India has.
Which ITR form has Schedule VDA
- ITR-2: for filers with no income from business or profession. If you are salaried and sold some Bitcoin as an investment, this is usually your form.
- ITR-3: for filers with business or professional income. If you trade Bitcoin frequently and treat it as business income, or you have other business income, this is your form.
- ITR-1: cannot be used if you have VDA income. This is one of the most common mistakes.
Whether your Bitcoin income is capital gains or business income depends on your facts: how often you trade, how long you hold, how you treat it in your books. The tax rate on VDA transfers is the same 30% either way, but the form and the head of income change. Decide this with your CA before you file.
What to enter for each sale
Schedule VDA asks for one row per transfer. For each, you will need:
- Date of acquisition: when you bought the Bitcoin you are now selling.
- Date of transfer: when you sold, swapped or spent it.
- Head under which income is taxable: capital gains or business income.
- Cost of acquisition: what you paid. This is the only deduction allowed under section 115BBH. No fees as a separate expense, no other costs.
- Consideration received: the sale value.
- Income from transfer: sale value minus cost. If this is negative, it is a loss, and it is still reported.
The schedule totals your income, and the 30% rate applies to it under section 115BBH, with surcharge where applicable and 4% cess on top.
Three things count as a transfer and need a row: selling for rupees, swapping one crypto for another, and spending crypto on goods or services. If you swapped Bitcoin for another token, that swap is a transfer even though no rupees changed hands.
Where do you get the numbers? Download the full transaction statement from every platform you used during the financial year, 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 for this filing. Your buy history gives you dates and costs. Your sell history gives you dates and sale values. If you bought through a regular plan at many different prices, ask your CA how to match purchase costs to the units you sold.
Losses: show them, they still do not reduce tax
This confuses almost everyone. VDA losses cannot be set off against any other income, including gains on other coins, and cannot be carried forward to later years. So why report them at all?
Because the rule is to report every transfer, and because the department already sees them. Platforms report your activity, and it shows in your Annual Information Statement. A return that shows your profitable sales but leaves out the losing ones does not match what the department has, and mismatches are what trigger questions.
Our site's example makes the effect clear. A gain of ₹40,000 on one asset and a loss of ₹30,000 on another: both go into Schedule VDA, and the tax is 30% of ₹40,000, which is ₹12,000, plus cess. The loss is shown, and it reduces nothing. The losses guide has more.
Claiming the 1% TDS
When you sold on an Indian platform, 1% of the sale value was deducted under section 194S and deposited against your PAN. Since 1 April 2026 this sits in section 393 under the Income-tax Act, 2025, but for the year you are filing now, the deduction happened under the old numbering.
Before you file:
- Open Form 26AS and your AIS on the income tax portal.
- Check that the TDS entries match your platform statements.
- Enter the TDS in the tax-paid section of your return, so it is credited against your tax.
If you skip this step, you have paid that 1% for nothing. If your TDS is more than your total tax, the excess comes back as a refund after processing. Our TDS guide explains the thresholds and who deducts.
Missed 31 July? What to do now
If you are an ITR-2 filer and missed 31 July 2026, do not panic and do not ignore it. A belated return may still be possible. Check the income tax portal for the current options and talk to a CA, because the options and costs depend on your case.
If you file ITR-3 and are not under audit, your due date this year is 31 August 2026. Use the time. Pull your statements now, not on the 30th.
And if you already filed but forgot your Bitcoin sales, or put them in the wrong place, ask your CA about a revised return. Fixing it yourself is far better than waiting for the department to find it.
Why matching matters more every year
In late July 2026, the CBDT issued guidance on the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework under section 509 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 and Rules 241 to 244. Exchanges will report users' transactions from calendar year 2026 in rupees, in Form 167, by 31 May of the following year. That includes buys, sells, crypto-to-crypto trades and transfers out.
This is not a new tax and it does not give you a new filing duty. But it does mean the department will have more transaction-level data about you than ever before. Your Schedule VDA should match your exchange records. That is the whole game now.
Records to keep
- Full transaction statements from every platform, for every financial year you held or sold.
- Your bank statements showing rupees going to and coming from platforms.
- Records of any transfers to or from your own wallet, with dates and amounts.
- Records of gifts received or given, with the value on the date.
- A copy of each filed ITR and your 26AS and AIS for that year.
Keep them for years, not months. If a question ever comes, the person with clean records answers it in an afternoon.
The full field-by-field reference lives in our Schedule VDA guide. Open it next to your return, and check your situation with a CA before you hit submit.
Common questions
Which ITR form is used for crypto?
ITR-2 if you have no business or professional income, ITR-3 if you do. Both contain Schedule VDA. ITR-1 cannot be used if you have any VDA income.
Do I need to report crypto losses in ITR?
Yes. Report every transfer in Schedule VDA, including losses, swaps and spends. The loss will not reduce your tax, because VDA losses cannot be set off or carried forward, but leaving it out creates a mismatch with platform reports.
Can I file ITR-1 if I sold Bitcoin?
No. If you have income from transferring a virtual digital asset, you need ITR-2 or ITR-3, which contain Schedule VDA.
Where do I show TDS on crypto?
Check the TDS in Form 26AS and your AIS, then enter it in the tax-paid section of your return so it is credited against your tax. Any excess over your total tax is refunded after processing.