Young Crypto Investors to Hold National Assembly Press Conference Urging Two-Year Delay to Coin Tax
Summary
- Young investors in virtual-asset taxation said they will hold a press conference urging a two-year delay in implementation because preparations are insufficient.
- The investors said they are seeking a delay to January 2029, citing gaps in detailed tax standards, exchange tax systems, the loss carryforward system, and transaction data from overseas exchanges.
- The People Power Party and Rep. Park Soo-young said they are concerned about negative market effects, pointing to issues including tax fairness in taxing only virtual-asset investment income, the scope of taxable assets, expected tax revenue, and the tax systems at South Korea’s five major exchanges.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
Young cryptocurrency investors will hold a press conference at South Korea’s National Assembly on October 21 to call for an additional delay to the virtual-asset tax system due to take effect in January, arguing that preparations are insufficient.
Edaily reported on October 21 that six young investors are scheduled to appear with People Power Party lawmaker Park Soo-young at 1:30 p.m. at the National Assembly Communication Hall. It will be the first press conference at the National Assembly by young investors demanding a delay to virtual-asset taxation.
Participants will include Cho Sang-hyuk, who runs the Telegram channel "Bull Ant CRYPTO," along with Kim Hee-sang, Jeong Da-woon, Cho Kyung-chan, Ha Heon-jung and Han Seung-min. Cho’s channel has about 30,000 subscribers, and he has previously staged truck protests and one-person demonstrations near the National Assembly, major political party headquarters and Seoul’s Sangam-dong broadcasting district to press for a tax delay.
The press conference is also tied to a National Assembly public petition calling for a two-year postponement of the virtual-asset tax. The petition, led by Cho, has attracted more than 50,000 supporters, meeting the threshold for referral to the relevant standing committee. Following street protests and the petition campaign, the investors now plan to press their case directly at the National Assembly.
They argue that with about two months left before the tax takes effect, neither detailed taxation standards nor exchange systems related to the tax have been adequately prepared. They also plan to raise the absence of a loss carryforward system that would allow investment losses to be deducted in future tax years, as well as limits on securing transaction data from users of overseas exchanges. Their position is that implementation should be delayed by two years to January 2029 to allow time to refine the tax standards and build and test the necessary systems.
The issue has also drawn criticism in political circles over tax fairness and the state of preparations. The People Power Party adopted abolition of virtual-asset taxation as party policy in March. Park’s position is that taxing only income from virtual-asset investments, after the financial investment income tax was scrapped, is unfair. He has also pointed to continuing uncertainty over taxable assets, expected tax revenue and detailed standards, while saying tax systems at South Korea’s five major exchanges are still unfinished.
Park also expressed concern that imposing the tax without a loss carryforward mechanism could unreasonably increase investors’ tax burdens and hurt the domestic virtual-asset market. Separately, the National Assembly Strategy and Finance Committee is set to address the virtual-asset tax issue during a comprehensive parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the National Tax Service on October 22.
