South Korean ruling party lawmakers call for delaying crypto taxation, while the Ministry of Finance still advocates for implementation as scheduled.

BlockBeats news, September 29 — According to The Korea Times, Min Byung-deok, a senior member of the policy committee of South Korea's ruling Democratic Party, said at a virtual asset conference in Seoul that the crypto tax should be introduced only after the Digital Asset Basic Act is passed, and that it is inappropriate to start taxation before the underlying law is in place. The virtual asset income tax, originally scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027, has already been postponed three times due to inadequate tax administration infrastructure, market volatility, and an incomplete investor protection framework. Min Byung-deok pointed out that it is difficult to trace income from overseas trading platforms, investment losses cannot be carried forward to future years, and the problem lies in immature tax administration conditions rather than opposition to taxation itself.

The South Korean government still insists on implementing it on schedule. Finance Minister Lee Hyung-il said the same day in the National Assembly that the current tax law already stipulates taxation of virtual asset income starting next year, and said that about 85% of investors hold less than 5 million won, and after deducting the 2.5 million won basic exemption, most will not need to pay tax or will bear very little tax burden. Under current rules, income from transferring or lending virtual assets is taxed as other income at a 20% rate, calculated on annual net gains, and losses may not be carried forward; the actual filing and payment window is expected in May 2028. The Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA) of South Korea and opposition parties have also called for a postponement. A survey of 2,423 investors by Tiger Research and Chainalysis showed that 73.7% oppose the taxation plan.