Rich by Coin

Park Soo-young, a senior member of the People Power Party, said after a field briefing at CoinOne’s Yeouido headquarters that the party has decided to abolish the cryptocurrency income tax and has already introduced an amendment to delete the tax from the income tax act. He warned that the National Tax Service lacks readiness to enforce such taxes, noting that the CARF system is limited to aggregate data and cannot readily provide individual transaction details. He added that the current system collects information from five major won-denominated exchanges, and enforcing the tax could push funds to overseas exchanges or informal channels, potentially shrinking the domestic market and triggering capital outflows.

Park also stressed fairness concerns, saying that scrapping the investment income tax while continuing to tax virtual assets would be inequitable, and that the lack of a clear concept for virtual assets undermines tax policy. Kim Eun-hye, the PPP’s floor leader, argued that taxing before clearly defining crypto concepts is inappropriate and that applying uniform financial regulation is outdated. Double taxation concerns were raised, with lawmakers noting that major economies treat virtual assets as commodities and that charging income tax in addition to trading fees could be excessive. They also emphasized the need to reform the current structure that classifies virtual assets as other income to limit carryforward losses.

Cho Bo-yoon emphasized the party’s commitment to growing the digital asset industry, noting engagement with on-the-ground stakeholders through a Digital Asset Value-Up Task Force and plans to push legislation to support industry development. Park urged cooperation with the government and the opposition, asking for a clear stance before the parliamentary budget process and stressing the importance of timely two-stage legislation to avoid delaying corporate and foreign investment.