With less than three months remaining before South Korea begins taxing cryptocurrency gains next year, coin investors have taken to the streets to demand a delay. Calls from the political establishment to push back the start date are growing louder, and investor opposition is intensifying.
Cryptocurrency investors will run truck protests from the 12th through the 23rd at key locations in Seoul, including the National Assembly, government complexes and the Bank of Korea, calling for a postponement of the crypto tax, according to financial industry sources on the 12th.
Trucks mounted with electronic displays appeared on the 12th in front of the main gate of the Bank of Korea in Seoul's Jung district, where the National Assembly's Finance and Economic Planning Committee was holding its parliamentary audit. The messages read "Delay the crypto tax, please save us" and "We do not support any party. We support delaying the crypto tax." Investors plan to deploy a total of 36 trucks over the next 10 days to press their demand.
The investors take issue less with taxation itself than with gaps in the current system. They point to the difficulty of accurately calculating acquisition costs and gains or losses on transactions conducted through overseas exchanges and private wallets, as well as the absence of loss carryforward deductions that are allowed for other investment assets. One cryptocurrency investor supporting the protest said, "We are not saying don't collect taxes. We're saying collect them properly." The investor added, "It's natural to pay taxes when profits arise, but the question is whether the current system properly reflects the characteristics and realities of cryptocurrency trading."
Another investor said, "It has to be clear from the start how taxpayers are supposed to identify and report taxable transactions." The investor added that the government should implement the tax only after using a grace period to improve the relevant standards and systems and build a tax framework that people can accept.
The government, which had been pushing to start taxing crypto on Jan. 1 next year, has recently softened its stance. Lee Hyoung-il, deputy prime minister and minister of finance and economy, stepped back at the parliamentary audit on the 6th, saying the government would gather a wide range of views.