South Korea delays tax on Bitcoin traders

The National Assembly of South Korea passed an amendment to the legislation that would introduce taxation of cryptocurrencies from 1 January 2023. CoinDesk reports.

The government planned to levy a 20% tax on profits from trading virtual assets, exceeding 2.5 million won (~$2,118), from 1 January 2022.

Despite public support for the government’s plans, in September lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party of Toburo spoke out against a one-year delay.

In October, a similar proposal was introduced by representatives of the opposition party ‘People Power’. The lawmakers argued that the fiscal infrastructure was not ready for the introduction of the tax.

The government beat back attempts by lawmakers to approve the delay, but at the end of November the relevant National Assembly committee проголосовал for a bipartisan amendment that postpones the introduction of taxation for one year. Parliament backed the proposal.

Earlier, authorities in South Korea hinted at a possible introduction of a tax on NFT transactions, although previously stated that NFTs do not fall under the definition of virtual assets.