South Korea Drafting Legislation To Tax Individual Crypto Profits

Cryptocurrency and taxation laws are creating a great deal of confusion in South Korea.

On Dec. 30, South Korea’s government stated that under current law, it cannot impose income taxes on individuals’ profits from transactions of cryptocurrency. This, however, contrasts with the National Tax Service’s recent imposition of an 80 billion won ($68.9 million) tax bill on local crypto exchange Bithumb Korea.

On Dec. 29, The Korea Herald reported that South Korea’s local tax agency received 80 billion won ($68.9 million) in taxes from the exchange. The following day, Choi Kyo-il, a lawmaker of the Liberty Korea Party and member of the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee, received information from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance addressing the issue of taxation and cryptocurrency. The document showed that under the current tax law, individuals’ profits from cryptocurrency transactions are not subject to taxation since they are not listed in the income tax law.