Solana (SOL) in India: Tax, TDS, Regulatory and Accounting Treatment for Tax Year 2026-27

This article sets out how SOL, the native token of the Solana proof-of-stake network, is treated in India for Tax Year 2026-27 under the Income-tax Act, 2025 and under the anti-money-laundering, GST, FEMA and accounting frameworks. The position is stated as reviewed on 11 October 2026.

Tax Year 2026-27 is the first year of the Income-tax Act, 2025, in force from 1 April 2026. Clients who held and traded virtual digital assets under the earlier Act now have to map familiar rules to new section numbers and forms, and staking raises questions the transfer provision does not answer. The sections below take each provision in turn.

The token and how staking works

Facts about the network are taken from its published documentation and may change by protocol governance.

  • SOL pays network fees and can be delegated to validators through a stake account.
  • The base fee is 5,000 lamports per signature, one lamport being one-billionth of a SOL. Half of the base fee is burned and half goes to the validator. An optional prioritisation fee goes to the validator. A wallet or platform may charge its own service fee on top.
  • Staking rewards depend on network issuance, participation, validator performance and validator commission. There is no guaranteed rate. The documented inflation parameters are an initial annual rate of 8%, annual disinflation of 15% and a long-run rate of 1.5%. These are protocol parameters that governance can change.
  • Stake activation and deactivation take time. Staking through an exchange's custodial service is on the exchange's own terms.

Provision 1: Is SOL a virtual digital asset?

SOL ordinarily falls within the definition of a virtual digital asset (VDA) under the Income-tax Act, 2025. The classification of a particular token should still be confirmed against the statutory definition and any notification, but for SOL the ordinary answer is yes.

Provision 2: Tax on transfer, Section 194(1) Table Sl. No. 4

Income from the transfer of a VDA is taxed at 30%, plus surcharge and cess, under Section 194(1), Table Sl. No. 4. The consequences are: