PPP’s Bae Jun-young Urges Democratic Party to Decide on Crypto Tax Delay

The People Power Party has urged the Democratic Party to swiftly decide whether to delay taxation on virtual assets, or cryptocurrencies, which is scheduled to take effect in January next year.

Bae Jun-young, a People Power Party lawmaker, wrote in a Facebook post on Oct. 31 that crypto taxation will begin on Jan. 1 next year, but issues of tax fairness and investor protection remain unresolved. Bae is the opposition-side secretary of the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee.

Bae first took issue with tax fairness between domestic and overseas exchanges. Domestic exchanges submit transaction records to the National Tax Service, but income from overseas exchanges or peer-to-peer transactions is difficult to track.

As a result, only compliant domestic investors would end up bearing the tax burden, he wrote.

He also highlighted the absence of a loss carryforward provision. If an investor loses 10 million won ($7,200) this year and earns 5 million won ($3,600) next year, the gains made next year would still be taxed.

Bae said the tax framework was introduced in 2020 and has already been delayed three times, but problems involving the securing of overseas transaction data and support for tax filing remain unresolved.

He also stressed that preparations for the tax rollout remain insufficient. During the parliamentary audit, industry participants said exchanges would need at least six to nine months to build tax systems even after the National Tax Service finalizes its administrative notice, and he called on the government to disclose its state of readiness.

Bae added that he had proposed putting the related bill on the agenda of the tax subcommittee on Nov. 2, but had not yet received a response.

He urged the Democratic Party to respond immediately to the proposal and reach a conclusion on whether to delay the tax before it takes effect.