Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan has paid Rs 1.09 crore in GST on the sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) worth Rs 7.15 crore after receiving a notice from the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI), reported business-standard.com.

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Despite the fact that Bachchan has deposited the funds, tax authorities are continuing their inquiry. Bachchan had engaged in a contract with Rhiti Entertainment Pte. Ltd., Singapore, for the auction conversion of his content into NFTs. According to business-standard.com, these NFTs comprised a recitation of Madhushala, a famous collection of poems penned by his father, as well as posters and images.

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The sale of NFTs had fetched Rs 7.15 crore and would be subject to 18% IGST. The actor’s tax due from the transaction is Rs 1.09 crore, which he has paid.

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Following Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s proposal to alter the Income Tax Act to designate NFTs as virtual digital assets, tax officials have begun to probe investors dealing in cryptocurrencies and NFTs.

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Earlier this month, the income tax department reportedly cracked down on non-payment of taxes from cryptocurrency gains. The IT department is investigating high-value cryptocurrency transactions of around 700 investors, the Economic Times reported, adding that the authority is proposing to issue notices to them.

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According to income tax officials, the majority of these individuals either failed to declare their crypto earnings on their tax filings or did not submit tax returns at all. They may be subject to a 30% tax, penalty, and interest.

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An NFT is a digital asset that symbolises physical objects such as art, music, video, in-game assets, and so on. It is primarily purchased and sold online using cryptocurrency. It’s often encoded using the same underlying software as many other cryptos – blockchain. NFTs are tracked on blockchain to offer evidence of ownership to the buyer. When an NFT is sold, the creator receives payment in the form of cryptocurrency.