NRI Crypto Tax: What You Need to Know About Crypto Taxes for Non-Resident Indians

When you're an NRI, a Non-Resident Indian living abroad but still subject to Indian tax rules on certain income. Also known as Non-Resident Indian, it means your crypto gains may still be taxed in India—even if you never set foot in the country. Many NRIs assume that because they live overseas, their crypto trades don’t matter to Indian tax authorities. That’s a dangerous assumption. India doesn’t care where you are when you earn from crypto—it cares where your income source is linked, and for NRIs, that link is often still India.

Here’s how it works: if you bought crypto while living in India and sold it after moving abroad, the profit could still be taxable under Indian law. The same goes for staking rewards, airdrops, or DeFi income tied to Indian-based wallets or exchanges. The Income Tax Department of India, the government body enforcing tax laws on crypto earnings for residents and certain non-residents treats crypto as a taxable asset, not currency. That means every trade, swap, or sale triggers a capital gain. And if you’re filing taxes in your new country, you might end up paying twice—unless you understand the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), a treaty between India and other countries to prevent the same income from being taxed in two places. Not all countries have one with India, and even when they do, crypto isn’t always covered clearly.

What’s more, Indian banks and exchanges now report crypto transactions to tax authorities through KYC data. If you used WazirX, CoinDCX, or Binance India before leaving, your history is already in their system. The NRI crypto tax rules don’t disappear just because your address changed. You’re still required to disclose foreign assets if your total global income crosses ₹15 lakh. Crypto holdings? They count. And if you didn’t report them last year, the penalty can be up to 300% of the tax due.

Some NRIs try to hide their crypto in foreign wallets or use offshore exchanges to avoid detection. But that’s not a solution—it’s a risk. India’s tax department uses blockchain analytics tools to trace wallet flows. If your wallet ever interacted with an Indian exchange, your trail is visible. Even if you moved your crypto to a non-KYC platform, the original deposit or withdrawal from an Indian exchange leaves a digital fingerprint.

So what should you do? First, track every transaction—buy, sell, swap, stake—starting from the day you became an NRI. Use a simple spreadsheet or free crypto tax tool to calculate gains. Second, check if your country of residence has a DTAA with India. If yes, you may claim tax credits. If not, you’ll likely pay in both places unless you qualify for an exemption. Third, file your Indian tax return if you have taxable crypto income, even if you’re not physically in India. Filing doesn’t mean you owe—it means you’re compliant.

Below, you’ll find real examples of how NRIs got caught, what they paid, and how others avoided trouble by acting early. No theory. No fluff. Just what happened, what worked, and what you should do next.