South Korea’s government will push its 22% crypto tax back two years to 2029, Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il said on Thursday, November 5, a day after Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok ask
South Korea’s government will push its 22% crypto tax back two years to 2029, Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il said on Thursday, November 5, a day after Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok asked for the delay.
Korean traders have now heard “not yet” four times.
The levy would charge 22%, a 20% national rate plus 2% local tax, on yearly gains from virtual assets above ₩2.5 million, about $1,860. It was due to start in January 2027. Lee announced the plan at an emergency briefing at the Government Complex Seoul, saying the ministry will consult with the National Assembly on a two-year deferral.
It is a quick turn. As recently as the summer, the government had confirmed the tax would go ahead in January 2027, with no new delay in its yearly tax plan.
So why does Seoul keep moving the date, and did Korea’s crypto market even notice?
The official reason this time is data. Tax information exchange with the US on crypto accounts starts in 2029, and the ministry says taxing earlier would leave users of local exchanges worse off than traders on offshore platforms the tax office can’t yet see.
Lee gave three reasons in all. Besides the US exchange, he named the need to refine the rules, including deductions for carried-over losses, and the trading and regulatory changes coming with Korea’s digital asset act.
The loss rule matters most for traders. Under the current law, gains and losses are counted one year at a time. The government now wants losses carried forward for up to three years and deducted from later gains, pointing to how far crypto prices swing.
Politics did the rest. Seoul Economic Daily wrote that the deciding factor was fading support among young adults, who make up most of Korea’s crypto investors, and both the ruling and opposition parties had called for another delay.
Lee said he takes it “seriously” that he is announcing another deferral after three earlier ones.
The tax was written into law in 2020 and first set for January 2022. Lawmakers moved it to 2023 in December 2021, to 2025 in December 2022, and to 2027 in December 2024.
The new plan has its own schedule. A public-private working group will join international talks on sharing crypto tax data, rule changes come in the first half of 2027, amendments go to the National Assembly’s regular session that year, and detailed tax standards follow in the first half of 2028.
One caveat: none of this is law yet. The statute still says January 2027 until lawmakers pass an amendment, though the request came from the ruling party’s own leader.
For now, very little changes. Gains stay untaxed for two more years if the amendment passes, and the market barely moved on the news.
Upbit’s KRW markets traded ₩1.36 trillion, about $1.01 billion, in the 24 hours to 14:33 UTC on Thursday. XRP led with ₩146.7 billion, or 10.8% of the total, ahead of Bitcoin’s ₩114.3 billion.
Korean prices are almost level with global ones. Bitcoin cost ₩107.05 million on Upbit, about $79,570 at ₩1,345 per dollar, just 0.1% above Binance. That gap, the “kimchi premium”, tends to widen when local demand runs hot.
XRP, Upbit’s most traded coin, sits at $1.30 on Binance, down 14% in 30 days. It trades below the 50-day EMA at $1.3348 and the 200-day EMA at $1.3628, with resistance at $1.3444 and support at $1.2562. Below that, the next swing low is $1.2002.
XRPUSDT Chart 1D Source: TradingView
Korea’s traders get another two years without a bill. Whether 2029 sticks depends on the same lawmakers who moved the date three times before.
The post South Korea Delays Its Crypto Tax to 2029, a Fourth Postponement That Still Needs Lawmakers’ Approval appeared first on Tokenist.
