South Korea‘s crypto investors have again pressed lawmakers to postpone a long-delayed tax on virtual-asset profits, after a National Assembly petition calling for a two-year grace period cleared the 50,000-signature threshold needed for committee review.
Regulatory and finance officials, however, have given little indication that they intend to change course.
The petition, posted in late August, asked the legislature to push the start of taxation from 2027 to 2029.
Supporters say the extra time is needed to finish the systems that would let exchanges and tax authorities calculate acquisition costs, share overseas transaction data, and apply consistent rules to transfers involving personal wallets, peer-to-peer trades, and foreign platforms.
They warn that an incomplete framework could shrink domestic trading, push capital to offshore venues, and even reduce rather than raise overall tax receipts if exchange profits and trading volume collapse.
That argument has gained force after previous postponements.
The levy was first slated for 2022 and has already been deferred three times, most recently through the end of 2026.
Under current law, gains from transferring or lending virtual assets would be treated as miscellaneous income from January 2027, with a 20 percent national rate plus local tax for an effective 22 percent charge on annual profits above a 2.5 million won deduction.
Filings would follow in May 2028.Industry groups have echoed the petition.
The Digital Asset eXchange Alliance, which represents domestic virtual-asset service providers, has argued that operators still cannot reliably verify cost bases for assets that have moved through overseas exchanges or self-custody wallets.
It has also flagged unfinished withholding rules for non-residents and uneven readiness for the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework.
Some lawmakers in the People Power Party have filed separate bills to delay the tax to 2029 or 2030, or even repeal the relevant clauses.
Officials have not accepted those premises.
Finance minister nominee Lee Hyung-il, in written answers to the National Assembly’s finance committee, restated the principle that income should be taxed where it arises and said it would be appropriate to begin collection next year as planned.
He added that the National Tax Service intends to issue detailed public notices before year-end so taxpayers know how to file.
Senior ministry figures have made similar comments throughout the summer, and the government’s latest tax-reform package did not include another postponement.
The dispute now sits at the intersection of tax equity, market design, and political timing.
Advocates of delay say treating crypto as miscellaneous income, without loss carryforwards of the kind available in some capital-gains systems, is especially harsh after the repeal of a separate financial investment income tax on stocks.
Officials counter that repeated grace periods have already given the industry years to prepare and that further delay would undermine the basic rule that realized gains are taxable.
Whether the petition produces more than a committee hearing remains uncertain. Crossing 50,000 signatures guarantees review, not a change in statute.
For now, investors have demonstrated that opposition is organized and numerically significant, while the finance authorities have made clear that their default position is still implementation on the current timetable.