Gwachon, a city in South Korea’s Seoul district, has launched a new system to seize digital assets from degreasers.
The new “electronic virtual assets seizing system” will allow the city to step up its crackdown on tax cheating that has continued for the past five years. The city launched the system after noting an increase in “the case of virtual assets used as a means of hiding delinquent assets.”
The new system will be fully launched in March, with “full-scale collection procedures starting from the first half of 2025.” It covers 361 residents who believe city officials owe a 3 million ($2,000) unpaid taxes to local tax man KRW. Gwacheon has over 85,000 residents.
“We ensure that the tax system is fair by taking a strong response to tax delinquency,” commented Kang Min-Ah, city’s tax director.
This week, the city just launched a new system, but has been seizing digital assets from tax evaders for many years. Officials say over the past five years, the city has confiscated 300 million ($205,000) from tax-deductible digital asset owners, more than KRW. It noted that over $70,000 was seized in 2024, and that the city’s system would dramatically increase, even before the new system was launched.
A day after Gwachon’s new system was announced, another Seoul district announced it was increasing its digital property tax. Gwanak, a southern district in Seoul, said it has a population of over 500,000 and will require local exchanges to hand over relevant data to residents who trade digital assets and assess their tax obligations. Ta.
Gwanak officials said the move is in response to an increase in digital asset trading volume from locals. In particular, the district is chasing 325 individuals. I believe I’m borrowing 10 billion ($690,000) of tax.
South Korea’s proposed 20% tax is expected to come into effect in January 2025. However, lawmakers agreed in December last year to postpone implementation until early 2028, seven years after the initial agreement was reached.
Despite the delays, local governments in East Asia are permitted to pursue taxes from local digital asset traders. Once they seize assets, if the owner does not pay taxes in time, they can liquidate them.
Beyond South Korea, several other governments have implemented laws that allow authorities to seize digital assets used by criminal or tax evaders. The UK implemented a version of the “crypto” seizure law last April, allowing the National Crime Bureau to freeze, seize and destroy crime-related assets.
Watch: Logistics Improvements, AI and Blockchain Funding
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxbn2idcge8 title = “YouTube Video Player” frameborder = “0” aplas = “accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; cyrosplay; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy = “strict-origin-when-when-cross- Origin “approakfullscreen =””>