As the National Tax Service prepares to implement taxation on virtual assets starting next year, the virtual asset industry is welcoming the People Power Party's decision to adopt a party line to abolish the tax. A total of 71 countries worldwide have released policies on virtual assets, and nations that tax revenue from virtual asset trading and those that do not are split nearly in half.
According to the virtual asset industry on the 29th, People Power Party Floor Leader Song Eon-seog visited the Coinone virtual asset exchange on the 25th and held a roundtable with the heads of the five major coin exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, GOPAX) to discuss legislative direction. Song said, "The financial investment income tax is being abolished, and if income tax is imposed on virtual assets, it creates a double taxation problem."
Under current law, a 22% tax rate—20% in other income tax plus 2% in local income tax—is levied on the portion of income from the transfer or lending of virtual assets that exceeds 2.5 million won. If a virtual asset purchased for 10 million won is sold for 20 million won, yielding a gain of 10 million won, roughly 1.65 million won in tax is imposed on 7.5 million won after excluding 2.5 million won. It was slated to apply from 2022, but after three deferrals it is set to take effect next year.
Overseas, countries that tax gains from the transfer of virtual assets and those that do not are split about evenly. According to the virtual asset analysis platform Coincub, among 71 countries that have released virtual asset policies, 31 countries (43.6%) currently exempt such income from taxes, while 34 countries (47.8%) impose taxes. Six countries, including China, have imposed a blanket ban on virtual asset transactions.
The virtual asset industry is welcoming the People Power Party's decision to adopt tax abolition as its party line. A virtual asset industry official said, "With the financial investment income tax already abolished, taxing only virtual assets is inconsistent with fairness. Bipartisan cooperation is urgently needed for fair competition with the stock market."