SK’s 22% Crypto Tax Could Be Abolished Under New Bill

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South Korea’s opposition party has proposed a bill to abolish the upcoming income tax on crypto assets, citing US regulators’ guidance on asset classification, concerns about double taxation, and inconsistencies with the current tax system.

SK Lawmakers Push To Repeal Crypto Taxation

On Thursday, local news outlet Digital Asset reported that South Korea’s People Power Party (PPP) proposed a bill to amend the long-delayed Income Tax Act, which is scheduled to take effect next year.

According to the report, PPP’s floor leader, Song Eun-seok, introduced the legislation on March 19, seeking to abolish the taxation of crypto assets. If approved, the amendment would remove all provisions governing the taxation of digital assets in the current Income Tax Act.

Under the current digital assets law, crypto assets will be subject to a 20% income tax rate, up to 22% including local taxes, starting January 1, 2027, with a deduction limit of 2.5 million won.

Originally, the government proposed implementing a 20% tax on crypto gains by January 2022. However, the rule change has been postponed three times, including a two-year delay to the January 1, 2025, implementation date in December 2024.

As the report noted, the People Power Party and the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) clashed over the latest two-year delay, with the PPP and the government supporting the postponement. In contrast, the DPK advocated raising the tax deduction limit to 50 million won rather than postponing crypto taxation, ultimately agreeing to postpone it until 2027.

The proposed amendment mentioned recent joint guidance by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). This guidance classified most digital assets as commodities rather than securities, which reportedly raised concerns in South Korea that “treating them under the same tax system as securities is inappropriate.”

“Since digital assets are already classified as commodities in Korea and subject to the value-added tax system, imposing an additional income tax on them would create issues of double taxation,” the report added, citing the bill.

The amendment contends that imposing a separate income tax on digital assets raises concerns regarding the fairness and consistency of the tax system, considering that the financial investment income tax has been abolished to promote capital market development and protect investors.

If income tax is imposed in the future, significant practical and administrative difficulties are expected, such as determining the acquisition cost for non-resident foreigners, which would limit the effectiveness of the system.

DPK To Review Tax Amendment Despite Long-Standing Policy

In response to the People Power Party’s push to abolish the 20% crypto taxes, the Democratic Party of Korea has affirmed that it will review the recently introduced amendment.

DPK’s Senior Deputy Floor Leader for Policy, Kim Han-kyu, acknowledged PPP’s concerns about tax equity between stocks and crypto assets and the consistency of the Korean tax system.

“I am aware that there are calls to strike a balance between the stock market and the digital asset market in terms of taxation,” he told reporters after a general meeting of lawmakers on Thursday.

Kim also revealed the South Korean ruling party had not considered a proposal or any measures to abolish the upcoming crypto taxation, as it had “not yet reached a level where it is being seriously discussed or where there is a consensus within the party.”

The PPP’s bill was not previously discussed between the ruling and opposition parties in advance, he stated, but affirmed that DPK lawmakers will discuss the bill in the Finance and Economy Committee now that it has been introduced.

Nonetheless, he noted that the party’s stance had previously been to proceed with the existing bill, previously advocating a higher deduction limit instead, which could signal the proposed amendment risks limited support from the DPK.

The total crypto market capitalization is at $2.36 trillion in the one-week chart. Source: TOTAL on TradingView

Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com

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