South Korea to push 20% crypto tax in 2025 with higher exemption limit: report

South Korea’s left-wing political party intends to push ahead with the plan to tax cryptocurrency gains from the beginning of 2025 instead of approving a further delay, the Seoul Shinmun reported Wednesday.

Originally, a 20% taxation (22% with local tax) on crypto gains was scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2022. The plan has been pushed back twice to Jan. 1, 2025, due to heavy backlash from investors and industry experts. 

While there were discussions and proposals of a further delay, with one suggesting a start in 2028, the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is committed to implementing the tax plan on schedule, according to the local media report. 

However, the party is making an amendment to the plan by raising the tax deductible limit from cryptocurrency gains of under 2.5 million Korean won ($1,795) to 50 million won ($35,919). 

Given the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market, the amended plan reportedly allows taxpayers to use a percentage of the sale price as a proxy for the original purchase price, in cases where precise acquisition records are unavailable.

According to the report, the Democratic Party noted that raising the tax exemption limit to 50 million won would be the same as nullifying the tax plan, as only a few investors would exceed this threshold.

The DPK plans to have the amended plan pass the voting of the National Assembly’s tax subcommittee on Nov. 25 and the legislature’s general meeting on Nov. 26, Seoul Shinmun reported.

Correction: South Korea's ruling political party is the right-wing People Power Party, though the Democratic Party owns majority of seats at the national legislature.