South Korea’s ruling People Power Party is preparing a policy seminar with the country’s largest won-market cryptocurrency exchanges to discuss revisions to virtual-asset taxation, including the possibility of delaying the tax again before its scheduled January 2027 start.

According to a Sept. 8 report by Dailyian, the event is being planned for 2 p.m. on Sept. 21 and would bring together party leaders, exchange representatives and officials from the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance, or DAXA. The meeting schedule and final attendee list have not yet been confirmed.

Seminar plan brings industry into tax debate

The party is consulting with the industry on the proposed seminar as it reviews how virtual-asset taxes should be handled. Coordination is underway involving Floor Leader Chung Jeom-sik, Policy Committee Chair Lim I-ja and secretaries from relevant standing committees.

The invited industry participants are the five largest won-market exchanges: Dunamu, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Streami. DAXA officials are also being included in the discussions, reflecting the trade group’s role in representing the major domestic exchanges.

Current law still points to a January 2027 launch

Under the Income Tax Act now in force, South Korea is set to begin taxing certain virtual-asset income from January 2027. The tax would apply to annual income from the transfer or lending of virtual assets that exceeds a basic deduction of 2.5 million won.

The statutory tax rate is 20%, and the effective burden rises to 22% when local income tax is included. Despite the renewed push from the ruling party, the existing legal framework still calls for implementation next year unless the law is changed.

Tax start has already been pushed back three times

The planned crypto tax was first supposed to take effect in 2022. Since then, implementation has been postponed three times, first to 2023, then to 2025 and later to 2027.

Those delays were tied to unresolved issues including tax infrastructure and the need to strengthen investor-protection rules. The latest discussions show that, even after multiple postponements, the policy remains contested among lawmakers and industry participants.

People Power Party lawmakers have filed competing revisions

Several lawmakers from the ruling party have already submitted bills that would either remove the tax entirely or move its start date further into the future. In March, Rep. Song Eon-seok proposed an amendment to the Income Tax Act that would delete provisions covering taxation of income from virtual-asset transfers and lending.

Other proposals focus on additional delays rather than abolition. Rep. Jung Sung-kook introduced a bill to postpone implementation by three years, to 2030, while Rep. Kim Sang-hoon proposed a two-year delay to 2029.

Government and opposition still back the current timetable

The seminar would follow an earlier March meeting between the People Power Party, the five won-market exchanges and DAXA on ways to improve the virtual-asset tax system. That earlier round of talks suggests the party has been developing its position with industry input for months.

For now, however, the government and the Democratic Party continue to support launching the tax in 2027 under the existing law. The next confirmed step is whether the Sept. 21 seminar goes ahead as planned and what position, if any, emerges from those discussions.

Source: en.bloomingbit.io