Finance ministry opens crypto tax talks as 2027 levy deadline nears

The finance ministry said Tuesday it would weigh market conditions and reporting systems before a planned tax on virtual asset income takes effect, opening a consultation with exchanges and academics as a Jan. 1, 2027 start date approaches.

First Vice Finance Minister Kwon Dae-young chaired the meeting at the Public Procurement Service hall in Seoul, the ministry said. The ministry said the session was arranged to hear directly from the field and to collect a broad range of industry and expert opinion ahead of implementation.

Kwon said new trading methods and services are emerging quickly as technology develops, with cross-border transactions becoming more active. "The tax system also needs to be carefully designed and operated with full consideration of market changes and the characteristics of transactions, along with the principles of taxation," he said.

Park Hoon, a professor at the University of Seoul, noted that major markets including the United States, Britain and Japan already tax virtual assets. "We need to consider a comprehensive roadmap for the implementation and stable settlement of a reasonable taxation system," he said.

Industry participants asked the government to set clear standards so taxpayers and operators can resolve uncertainty, calling for time to build and verify systems for submitting tax data and for fair treatment compared with users of overseas exchanges. Experts urged standards taxpayers can accept as fair and reasonable, saying the market and institutional environment had changed substantially since 2020 and pointing to pending legislation, the Digital Asset Basic Act. They also asked the ministry to clarify how different transaction types, including staking, would be taxed, and to review carryover of losses and simpler filing procedures.

Kwon said the principle that income should be taxed must be respected, but that tax infrastructure and market discipline have to be in place for it to take root. He said the government would review cross-border information exchange, standards by transaction type and filing convenience together, and the ministry said it would consult closely with other government bodies.

Kwon said he would give full consideration to the views raised at the meeting and coordinate closely with the relevant ministries.