South Korea to convene five major crypto exchanges on October 20 to hear opinions on 2027 crypto asset taxation

October 18 - According to Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean government will convene representatives from the five major crypto asset trading platforms and the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA) on October 20 to hear industry opinions on the crypto asset taxation originally scheduled to take effect in January 2027. The system has been postponed three times previously, and the government is currently still proceeding with implementation preparations according to the original timeline; further postponement would require a decision by the National Assembly.

Under the current arrangement, annual income generated from crypto asset transfers and lending, after deducting the basic tax exemption of 2.5 million Korean won, will be subject to a 22% tax rate including local income tax. The industry believes that specific taxation standards for transactions such as staking, airdrops, hard forks, and DeFi remain unclear, and issues such as tax source identification, filing and payment infrastructure, and loss carryforward deductions also need to be resolved, therefore supporting a postponement of implementation.

Lawmakers from the Democratic Party of Korea proposed an amendment on October 16 to effectively postpone the taxation timeline to 2029. Meanwhile, South Korea's Financial Services Commission is advancing the government draft of the "Digital Asset Basic Act," which is expected to be completed by the end of this month at the earliest and undergo party-government consultations. Major controversies include restrictions on the shareholding ratio of major shareholders of exchanges and the bank controlling requirement for issuers of Korean won stablecoins.