South Korea’s ruling party plans to meet with the five major exchanges to discuss delaying the crypto tax until 2029
South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party will meet with representatives of the country’s five major cryptocurrency exchanges on Friday (October 30) to discuss delaying the taxation of crypto assets, with the current tax set to take effect in January 2027, local media reported.
The meeting participants include Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax. The ruling party already has a bill seeking to push the implementation date back to 2029, citing insufficient infrastructure and difficulties in obtaining transaction data.
South Korea’s crypto asset income tax has already been delayed three times since legislation was passed in 2020. It was originally scheduled to begin in 2022 and is now set to impose a 22% tax rate, including local tax, on income from transfers and lending of virtual assets starting in January 2027, with an annual deduction of 2.5 million won.
Original sources:
Title: NEW: South Korea's ruling Democratic Party will meet with representatives of the country's five major crypto exchanges... Publisher: The Block (@TheBlockCo) Publication date: 2026-10-29 URL: https://x.com/TheBlockCo/status/2115676785849634919 Source type: media report Verification status: The original post was read for this item, and local media and English reports were cross-checked. Verification date: 2026-10-28 Supporting content: the ruling party’s meeting with the five major exchanges to discuss delaying the tax and the bill’s details
Title: South Korea’s Democratic Party Weighs Fourth Delay to Crypto Tax, Calls In Heads of Five Major Exchanges Publisher: Bloomingbit Publication date: 2026-10-28 URL: https://en.bloomingbit.io/feed/news/123167 Source type: media report Verification status: The full report was read for this item Supporting content: meeting arrangements, 22% tax rate details and the background of three prior delays
ABAB AI Insight
South Korea’s crypto asset taxation was established through an amendment to the Income Tax Act in 2020 and has already been delayed three times because of insufficient infrastructure, market volatility and an unfinished investor protection framework. The most recent delay in December 2024 pushed the start date from 2025 to 2027. Under the current plan, the portion of annual transfer or lending income exceeding 2.5 million won will be taxed at 22%, with filing and payment to be made in May of the following year.
The main obstacle to this fourth delay is the cross-border data exchange under the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF). South Korea plans to begin exchanging data in 2027, but the United States is expected to join only in 2029. Without U.S. transaction data, tax authorities would have difficulty tracking overseas transactions, and domestic exchange users could be disproportionately burdened with taxes.
Ruling party lawmaker Park Min-gyu proposed an amendment on October 16 that would tie the tax start date to the second year after the first international data exchange, meaning that if the exchange is completed in 2027, it would be delayed to 2029. Exchanges, through organizations such as DAXA, have said it is difficult to complete system development and testing before cost-of-acquisition rules are finalized, the reliability of overseas operators’ information is confirmed, and rules for different transaction types are clarified.
If the delay is ultimately approved, it would give exchanges more time to build their systems while easing concerns about capital moving to overseas platforms. The government had previously insisted on implementing the tax on schedule, but signs of a shift in stance have emerged within the presidential office and the ruling party, and the final decision is expected to be made through the tax law revision process in November or December.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
The timing differences in cross-border data exchange frameworks constitute the main technical and fairness obstacle to one country delaying crypto asset taxation.
The repeated delay of an already postponed tax system before infrastructure is ready reflects a policy path in which implementation conditions take priority over the original timeline.