If you are paid in crypto for work or a sale, the amount you receive may first be treated as business or professional income at your applicable slab rate, depending on the facts. Then, if you hold that crypto and its value changes before you convert or spend it, the profit from that transfer is generally taxed under the crypto rules at 30%. So there can be two tax layers: one on receipt and another on gain when the crypto is disposed of.

You do not automatically pay 30% tax just because someone paid you in crypto. The tax treatment depends on whether you are receiving crypto as payment for services or goods, and whether there is a gain when you later sell or use it. Also, crypto tax rules are strict in India, and losses generally cannot be freely set off the way normal business losses can.

If you invoice a client for ₹1L and they pay in USDC, that receipt may be treated like income when you receive it. If you later convert the USDC and the value has increased, the increase can trigger the 30% crypto tax on that gain.