South Korea’s presidential office is reviewing a fourth postponement of its 22% crypto tax, with lawmakers and industry groups now backing a 2029 start date instead of the currently scheduled January 2027 implementation.

On October 16, Park Min-gyu, a Democratic Party lawmaker, filed a bill with 13 colleagues to push the tax start to 2029. The Korea Digital Asset Business Association backed the 2029 date on October 26. The National Tax Service plans to publish a draft notice on taxable crypto income in late October, with the government expecting to decide its position through National Assembly tax revisions in late November to early December.

The 22% tax combines a 20% national rate and 2% local rate on annual income from virtual asset transfers or lending above a 2.5 million won threshold, roughly $1,888. The tax was established by an Income Tax Act amendment in 2020, originally scheduled to start in 2022. It has already been postponed twice, in 2023 and 2025.

Data Sharing and Regulatory Gaps

A presidential office official told Newsis that the “absence of U.S. trading data is the biggest bottleneck” for implementation. South Korea is among the first jurisdictions set to begin OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework exchanges in 2027, but the United States does not join until 2029. Without U.S. trading data access, the National Tax Service would chase overseas transactions individually, placing heavier burden on Korean traders using domestic exchanges versus foreign platforms or self-custody.

The regulatory framework remains incomplete. The Virtual Asset User Protection Act took effect in July 2024, but the Digital Asset Basic Act has not passed. Lawmakers have questioned taxing a market before the law defining it exists.

Political Positions Shift

Kim Min-seok, Democratic Party leader, called for a “thorough final review,” signaling a potential shift from the party’s previous position holding the line on 2027. Finance Minister Lee Hyeong-il stated the government would decide “after carefully considering and gathering all opinions from the industry and the National Assembly.” Financial Services Commission chairman Lee Eog-weon said regulators would “take various circumstances into full consideration.”

Not all lawmakers align on delay. Song Eon-seok, a People Power Party lawmaker, filed a separate bill to strike crypto tax provisions entirely, contradicting the 2029 delay approach.

Two public petitions calling for tax postponement each cleared 50,000 signatures, the threshold required to force legislative review on South Korea’s public petition platform.