South Korean Government to Hear Tax Opinions from Major Cryptocurrency Exchanges

The South Korean government plans to convene executives from the five major virtual asset exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, DigitalX, Gopax) and the Digital Asset Exchange Association (DAXA) for an on-site meeting on October 20. The purpose of the meeting is to gather industry opinions on the planned taxation of virtual assets, which is set to be implemented starting January next year. Vice Minister of Finance and Economy Kwon Dae-young and Financial Services Commission Digital Finance Policy Officer Yoo Yong-jun will attend. This meeting is a follow-up to Finance Minister Lee Hyung-ryul's recent statement in the National Assembly, where he mentioned that the government would broadly listen to various opinions. The taxation of virtual assets has been postponed three times since its introduction in 2020, and it is now scheduled to impose a 22% tax rate on gains from transfers and loans (after deducting a basic tax exemption of 2.5 million KRW) starting January 2027. The government is proceeding with the relevant administrative preparations as planned, with the National Tax Service expected to issue related notices around November. Financial authorities are accelerating the promotion of the government's proposal for the "Basic Law on Digital Assets," which is expected to be completed by the end of this month and initiate party negotiations for rapid legislative advancement by lawmakers.