The cryptocurrency tax in South Korea has once again become the center of controversy: a group of local crypto investors has submitted a petition to the Finance and Economic Planning Committee of the National Assembly requesting to postpone the start of tax collection for another two years. Currently, authorities intend to begin collecting it from January 1, 2027.
The Petition Has Gathered Enough Signatures for Consideration
The appeal was posted on the government petition service. In one month, it was supported by more than 51,000 people. According to the platform’s rules, this threshold is sufficient for the document to be forwarded to lawmakers.
The authors of the initiative believe that the digital asset market and tax infrastructure are not yet ready for the new tax. According to them, amid the decline in the crypto market, many coin holders have already faced financial pressure and significant losses.
How Authorities Plan to Collect the Tax
The parameters of the South Korean tax are easier to break down into key points:
- Country: South Korea.
- Profit threshold: more than 2.5 million won per year, about 1,856 US dollars.
- Tax rate: 20% on profits above the limit.
- Additional fees: local fee of 2%, bringing the total rate to 22%.
The rules will apply to income from the sale, transfer, and lending of digital assets. In this model, cryptocurrency is considered an investment asset, and a coin like Bitcoin is not just a digital currency but an object of blockchain transactions that form the tax base.
Why Investors Are Opposed
The petitioners argue that the new tax will primarily hit newcomers to the market. In their opinion, the tax will reduce investors’ ability to accumulate capital and put them at a disadvantage.
Another argument is related to the risk of traders moving to foreign crypto platforms. The authors of the appeal warn: if the rules are too strict, some users may prefer foreign services, and budget revenues may still be modest due to the high volatility of the market.
The petition’s initiators also point out that the operating profit of major South Korean crypto companies has fallen by 90%, meaning the industry is not experiencing the best time to launch a new fiscal regime.
Authorities Are Not Abandoning Their Plans Yet
Candidate for Minister of Economy and Finance Lee Hyun Il stated that the course for introducing the tax remains. By the end of the year, the National Tax Service of the Republic of Korea should publish additional clarifications for investors.
South Korean authorities have already postponed the start of cryptocurrency taxation three times. In May, another petition appeared: its authors demanded to completely cancel the tax. It collected 50,000 signatures in just eight days and was submitted to parliament, but no further decisions have followed yet.
Recently, the National Tax Service of the Republic of Korea also required local traders to report accounts on foreign crypto exchanges. The requirement applies even in cases where the platform has ceased operations and the user cannot trade or withdraw assets.
Why This Dispute Matters Beyond the South Korean Market
The discussion around the Korean tax shows how sensitive the topic of digital asset taxation remains. In Russia, similar issues are usually discussed through the lens of who exactly receives the income: an individual, a sole proprietor in Russia, or a participant in the self-employment regime.
In Russian practice, several tax instruments and reporting forms are most often discussed alongside cryptocurrencies:
- Personal income tax for individual income.
- Profit tax if transactions are conducted through a business.
- Tax on professional income (NPD) for the self-employment regime.
- Simplified taxation system for sole proprietors and companies.
- Tax declaration as a way to report income from digital asset transactions.
- Provisions of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and clarifications from the Federal Tax Service of Russia.
The practical procedure usually starts with choosing tax status, collecting confirmations for transactions, calculating income, and submitting a declaration or report according to one’s regime.
A separate layer of disputes concerns operations and risks that are especially important when legalizing income:
- Mining and subsequent sale of received coins.
- Exchange of digital currencies through online services.
- Accounting for tokens as an asset in bookkeeping.
- Confirmation of the source of income with documents on transactions and movement of funds.
- Risks of tax claims, fines, and criminal liability for concealing income.
Against this backdrop, the South Korean petition does not look like a local story, but part of a broader debate about how states should regulate investment in the crypto market without pushing traders to foreign platforms.
