The department of Income tax has sent notices to a few lakh investors in bitcoins in a bid to collect taxes due on these trades, says the CBDT chief.

As quoted in the PTI report, Sushil Chandra, CBDT Chairman said that it has come to the notice of the department, that several of these investors did not pay the advance tax on the benefits accrued to them and some others did not specified their trade in bitcoins in their tax returns in the past.

"We have issued notices (to investors) and they (many of them) have agreed to pay taxes. We will definitely take taxes as far as the money is concerned which is invested (in bitcoins trade) and is unexplained," he said.

In December last year, pan-India surveys at bitcoin exchanges was conducted.

In the Budget speech presented on Thursday, Arun Jaitley had said that all of the cryptocurrencies that include bitcoins are illegal tender and all measures will be taken for eliminating their use.

With Inputs From PTI