Cryptocurrency has made many people millionaires, but it has also enabled many of them to evade tax payments. Tax evasion for most crypto holders has been a concern for some time, but South Korean authorities are no longer taking the matter lightly.
South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) is currently taking aggressive measures to ensure that all tax payment defaulters are held accountable for their actions. This comes after negligence in failing to take the necessary steps, despite several warnings from NTS against tax evasion.
What Are the Measures Taken to Combat Tax Evasion in South Korea?
Crypto Seizure Tactics
Due to the increasing rate of tax evasion, South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) has taken a much stricter route to curb the situation. Fishing out tax payment defaulters in the crypto space is challenging, but this hasn’t stopped the NTS from developing effective tactics to control tax payments.
The crypto seizure tactics may seem harsh, but they are the most effective way to catch tax evaders. This tactic is said to cover both the online and offline digital assets. Most crypto tax dodgers are using offline devices to store their digital assets. These devices are called cold wallets. A cold wallet is an offline storage device used by cryptocurrency investors to store their digital assets securely.
How Digital Assets Held in Cold Wallets Will Be Found
Since cold wallets are offline storage devices, you may wonder how the South Korean tax authorities plan to seize these assets. Finding a cold wallet requires physical searches of suspected defaulters. Suspected defaulters will be identified through thorough scrutiny of coin transactions. These transactions are tracked using programs designed to identify suspected offline storage locations.
Once these assets are seized, the NTS has the authority to freeze exchange accounts and liquidate the assets, as stipulated in South Korea’s National Tax Collection Act. Up to $100 million worth of crypto assets have been seized and liquidated by the NTS within four years. The amount of crypto assets seized and liquidated is sure to increase with this decision to commence the seizure of cold wallets.
What You Need to Know About the Crypto Market in South Korea
The crypto market in South Korea is steadily on the rise. The market has a trading volume of over 6 trillion won, which is likely to continue growing in the future as it attracts more investors.
If you are interested in investing in cryptocurrency assets, it is best to learn about the market from reputable websites. This will help you select only the relevant and accurate information. If you’re worried about not visiting the right sites, there is a page in Korea where you can explore categories and find multiple legit websites. This way, you can easily gain access to helpful sites and crypto news.
The South Korean crypto market is substantial and is likely to continue growing in the years to come.
How have the Crypto Seizure Tactics in South Korea Affected the Cryptocurrency Market?
As mentioned earlier, over $100 million worth of cryptocurrency assets have been seized and liquidated by the NTS within the past four years. While this type of news is expected to destabilize the crypto space, new investors continue to enter the market.
The crypto seizure tactics are a measure for tackling tax evaders. What this means is that if you keep to all the tax laws, you have nothing to worry about. Unfortunately, the number of tax dodgers continues to increase, as most investors fail to do what is right.
The cryptocurrency market in South Korea is substantial and is expected to continue growing in the future. While the crypto seizure tactics have affected some cryptocurrency investors, the market continues to boom.
Conclusion
The high number of unpaid taxes related to cryptocurrency in South Korea has led to an aggressive crackdown, which will likely continue until the entire tax evasion situation is completely eliminated.
Unfortunately, as the crypto market in South Korea grows, the rate of tax evasion also increases. This is due primarily to the anonymity associated with virtual assets. However, the country’s tax authorities have developed strong measures to combat tax evasion. Hopefully, the seizure of crypto wallets will help curb tax evasion.