A petition to scrap South Korea's incoming crypto tax has collected more than 53,000 signatures, crossing the 50,000 threshold that forces the National Assembly to formally review the proposal. The tax, set to take effect Jan. 1, 2027, would hit crypto profits above 2.5 million won (roughly $1,900) with a 22% rate.
How the tax works
The levy applies to annual gains from crypto trades that exceed 2.5 million won. Anything under that threshold is tax-free. The 22% rate is in line with South Korea's income tax on other capital gains. The National Tax Service (NTS) has been preparing for years — including building an AI-driven system to track investment gains, which it aimed to finish by the end of 2024.
Why the PPP wants it gone
The People Power Party (PPP) introduced a bill to abolish the crypto tax from the Income Tax Act. Their argument: the tax is unfair compared to how other assets are treated, and the U.S. now classifies digital assets as commodities, not securities. The PPP sees that as a signal that South Korea should rethink its approach before locking in a framework.
Three postponements, little wiggle room
The tax was first supposed to start in January 2022. It's been delayed three times since. Each postponement bought the industry a year or two of breathing room. But officials at the NTS and the finance ministry have publicly stuck to the 2027 date. Parliamentary petitions rarely force actual legislative change — they trigger a review, not a veto. That makes the odds of abolishing or delaying a fourth time low, according to previous reporting.
What happens next
The National Assembly will now take up the petition for a formal hearing or debate. The PPP's separate bill to delete the tax provision will also move through committee. Meanwhile, the NTS continues building out its AI surveillance system. The next concrete deadline is the Jan. 1, 2027 implementation date — unless lawmakers find the political will to kill it before then.
