India circles a date with crypto transparency
The world’s most populous nation just put a big red circle on its tax calendar. India will adopt the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) on April 1, 2027, a senior finance-ministry official told Business Standard. The move will force offshore exchanges to spill the beans on Indian residents’ digital wallets,no more hiding Bitcoin on a Bahamian beach.
Why now? Industry estimates peg India’s crypto transactions at a whopping $172 billion with more than 107 million users expected by 2025. “Legislative changes and system preparations are already underway,” the official said, adding that New Delhi plans to sign the multilateral information-sharing pact next year.
Beyond the headline date, CARF will require exchanges, brokers, and even certain wallet providers to automatically report customer holdings across borders. That data will zip straight to the Indian tax office, lighting up any undeclared gains like a neon sign. OECD officials hail CARF as the ‘CRS for crypto,’ expanding the same automatic-exchange playbook that cornered secret bank accounts a decade ago.
The reaction was swift. Tax advisers say the four-year runway gives companies time to rejig KYC systems but warns traders not to wait. “Once the switch flips, historical trades will be visible,” one Big Four partner cautioned.
Around the Tax World
• Nigeria turns up the heat on cross-border tax crime. FIRS chair Zacch Adedeji urged world leaders at Cambridge to treat tax evasion like any other economic crime, warning it “distorts fair competition,” The Nation reports.
• Colombia finishes dead last, again. The Tax Foundation’s 2024 International Tax Competitiveness Index ranked Colombia 38th of 38 OECD members for a second year running, citing complex corporate and property levies (Finance Colombia).
• Bangladesh’s tax-to-GDP blues. At just 7.2 percent, the country’s ratio lags far behind the Asia-Pacific average of 19.5 percent, limiting funds for infrastructure and social safety nets, according to The Daily Star.
• AI knocks on the tax office door. Governments no longer debate whether to use AI but how to keep it fair, writes Neil Kelley in International Tax Review.
• Fiscal pressure fuels reform talk in Africa. A Business Daily column says mounting deficits and global trends are forcing governments to revisit “first principles” of good tax design (Business Daily).
By the Numbers
Prime Number: 38/38, Colombia’s rock-bottom spot in the OECD tax competitiveness ranking for the second straight year.
Looking Ahead
All eyes now turn to 2026, when India will finalize domestic legislation before the 2027 go-live. Expect other emerging markets to watch closely, and maybe start circling their own dates.
Prepared by MyTax - mytax.com.ng