The government of South Korea’s capital Seoul has declared the seizure of crypto worth $22 million from individuals and company heads. As per a report by “The Korea Times,” the seized crypto evolved from people recognized as tax defaulters by the city’s tax collection agency. According to the investigation, the National Tax Service (NTS) Seoul office classified 1,566 individuals and company heads with delayed taxes. In Seoul, the NTS office seized $22 million in digital currencies owned by 676 of them on three crypto exchanges.
Moreover, with compulsory real-name cryptocurrency trading in South Korea, government agencies can request consumer trading details from crypto exchanges. Businesses also have to follow the stringent crypto transaction reporting obligations or see their executives encounter jail time. As per National Tax Service, 676 individuals held over $25 million in taxes. Moreover, after the seizure, 118 of them have paid over $1 million to the government. Furthermore, the city government revealed that the tax defaulters had asked the government not to liquidate the seized crypto.
South Korea’s Cryptocurrency Tax Law Effective from January 2022
Seoul purportedly becomes the first city in South Korea to seize individuals allegedly concealing their assets employing cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin estimated for 19%, the most significant proportion of the $22 million in crypto held by the government. Other famous tokens involve DragonVein and XRP at 16% each, with Ether (ETH) forming 10% of the total sum of the impounded digital currencies. Meantime, Stellar holdings stood at 9%, respectively, while other altcoins holdings were 30% of the total.
Earlier, the NTS had unveiled intentions to strengthen its probe on corporations and individuals looking to evade taxes by concealing their assets in crypto. Additionally, the tax agency opined that it would target people with almost $8,800 in tax defaults. Meantime, South Korea’s cryptocurrency tax law will come into effect in January 2022. The tax management will notice a 20% levy on crypto trading capital gains above $2,300. Furthermore, on April 19th, the country’s Office for Government Policy Coordination declared it would start its crackdown on illegal crypto businesses and all other kinds of money laundering and scams, including cryptocurrencies.
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