Seoul Says Pay Up: Korea's 22% Crypto Tax Lands in N Hounds With a November Rulebook 🐾

South Korea's National Tax Service (NTS) will publish guidance in November for a 22% crypto levy on qualifying gains that takes effect January 1, 2027, Commissioner Lim Gwang-hyeon told lawmakers during a parliamentary audit on October 13. The rate combines a 20% national tax with a 2% local income tax surcharge. Taxable income covers gains from transferring or lending digital assets above an annual basic deduction of 2.5 million won (~$1,870), calculated after acquisition costs and transaction expenses, with annual gains and losses combined before the deduction applies. Crypto acquired before the rules take effect will generally be valued at the higher of original cost or the market price just before implementation, prompting officials to urge investors to keep records of pre-2027 purchases.

"Once the law takes effect, we must receive data and begin verification starting from the tax returns filed in May 2028," Lim said, noting that the NTS is coordinating with exchanges and the Ministry of Finance and Economy to prepare reporting systems. Staking, airdrops and decentralized finance remain the most contested categories because treatment depends on whether an activity involves transferring or lending digital assets. Residents will file returns for 2027 income between May 1 and May 31, 2028. Lawmakers at the hearing questioned whether Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, DigitalX and Gopax hold records consistent enough to meet that deadline, and flagged private-wallet-to-private-wallet transfers as the hardest segment to track because no domestic exchange holds customer data on those movements.

Separately on October 13, South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) disclosed that the communications review authority had ordered domestic website blocks on 27 unregistered overseas crypto exchanges, including KuCoin, MEXC, Phemex, BingX and BitMart. The review body approved the measures following reviews held on October 6 and 7. The FIU judges an exchange to be operating locally based on factors such as Korean-language websites, marketing aimed at Korean users, and support for won payments, and warned that users could face difficulty accessing funds or making withdrawals on blocked sites. The action extends earlier enforcement that saw Google Play restrict 17 platforms, including KuCoin and MEXC, in March 2025, with the FIU saying future blocks will follow detected unregistered activity subject to communications review approval.

South Korea recorded $449.1B in crypto activity, the highest in East Asia, followed by Japan at $228.3B, Hong Kong at $192.2B, China at $176.3B and Taiwan at $140.4B. The country continues to position itself as the region's largest market while tightening both its tax perimeter for compliant venues and access controls for those operating outside it.