South Korea may revamp its tax system to tackle unreported overseas earnings in digital assets, while Indonesia plans to tax overseas digital income from 2024, raising concerns among investors.
The South Korean National Tax Service believes that Bithumb may have been engaged in tax evasion, an offense punishable by imprisonment or payment of fines.
South Korea stresses the need to uphold fair taxation principles as it busted digital asset investors who failed to settle taxes, with authorities netting nearly $200 million from the operations.
South Korea heightens its digital asset regulation with the finance ministry announcing that airdropped assets are now subject to a 10% to 50% levy, a move seen as a measure to counter gift tax evaders.
The NTS is also looking into individuals using digital assets to evade inheritance and gift taxes, as well as online platforms relocating their servers to tax havens.
South Korea’s tax agency will use data from the Big Four exchanges to determine the daily average price upon which it will determine the tax to impose.
The National Tax Service has identified some 2,400 suspected tax evaders relying on digital currencies to hide their assets, thought to amount to over KRW36.6 billion.
Bithumb has filed a complaint with a court in South Korea, as it seeks to nullify a $69 million bill from the country’s tax agency.
