South Korea's Democratic Party Engages In Discussions On Cryptocurrency Tax Delay

According to Odaily, South Korea's Democratic Party is set to engage in discussions with the ruling party today regarding the proposal to delay cryptocurrency taxation by two years. The Democratic Party maintains that even if the tax exemption threshold for virtual assets is increased, taxation should commence next year. Given the opposing stances and the fact that this is a budget-related bill, efforts are being made to reach a consensus, with plans to address the matter in next month's plenary session. The National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee, comprising members from both parties, is scheduled to deliberate on the remaining contentious issues related to the virtual asset tax legislation today. A representative from the Democratic Party's Strategy and Finance Committee explained on the 24th that if an agreement is reached, the bill will proceed as planned; otherwise, it will be referred to the floor leaders for further consideration. Initially, the Democratic Party intended to raise the virtual asset tax exemption limit to 50 million won and submit it to the Strategy and Finance Committee's plenary session on the 26th after discussions with the tax subcommittee. A senior official from the Democratic Party highlighted the need for caution in tax matters due to the "Korea discount" affecting the stock market, but emphasized that taxing virtual assets would integrate them into the tax system. The Democratic Party also believes that increasing the tax exemption limit from 2.5 million won to 50 million won would significantly reduce the number of taxpayers. Policy Committee Chairman Jin Sung-joon announced on the 21st that among South Korea's 8 million virtual asset investors, only about 3,500 individuals (0.04%) holding assets exceeding 1 billion won would be subject to taxation. Due to internal disagreements, the final stance on this issue will be determined through discussions, similar to the approach taken with the financial investment income tax (gold investment tax).