South Korean Government to Hear Opinions From Five Major Crypto Exchanges on Oct. 20; Virtual Asset Taxation May Be Postponed Again

On October 18, according to Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean government will convene representatives from the five major virtual asset exchanges—Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Digital X, and GOPAX—along with executives from DAXA on October 20 to gather industry feedback on the virtual asset taxation originally scheduled for implementation in January 2027. Under the current proposal, a 22% additional income tax and local income tax will be levied on proceeds from virtual asset transfers and lending after deducting a basic exemption threshold of 2.5 million KRW.

The South Korean crypto industry maintains that taxation standards for scenarios such as staking, airdrops, hard forks, and DeFi remain unclear, and the infrastructure for tax reporting is yet to be fully established. Meanwhile, Park Min-gyu, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, has introduced a bill amendment intended to effectively delay the implementation of virtual asset income tax until 2029. The South Korean government also plans to expedite the legislation of the Basic Act on Digital Assets, aiming to complete the government's proposal as early as the end of this month.