South Korea Prepares to Tax Crypto Gains in 2027

Highlights:

• The South Korean tax administration is gearing up to tax cryptocurrency profits from January 2027.
• Domestic exchanges will provide trading information to help calculate investors’ crypto gains and losses.
• But political resistance still raises doubts about the start of the crypto tax.

South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) has started building the infrastructure needed to tax cryptocurrency gains starting January 2027. Park Jeong-yeol, head of the Individual Taxpayer Bureau, confirmed the timeline during a briefing in Sejong City on Wednesday. The agency plans to collect trading data from major local exchanges and launch a dedicated analysis system before the first tax filings begin in 2028.

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According to the South Korean income tax code, income from trading or lending digital assets will be taxed as “other income” starting next year. Crypto investors who make more than 2.5 million won (roughly $1,800) in profits a year will be subject to a 22% tax rate. The rule could affect around 13.26 million people with accounts on local crypto platforms, according to Upbit’s data from last year.

South Korea @ntskorea Begins Preparations for Crypto Taxation

South Korea's National Tax Service has officially begun preparations to implement the crypto income tax starting next year, aiming for the first tax reporting in May 2028. The agency is building an integrated analysis… pic.twitter.com/eLGQLBFlD6

— BLOCKMEDIA(블록미디어) (@with_blockmedia) April 29, 2026

NTS Plans Exchange Data Checks for Crypto Tax Filing

The agency will collect trading records from five licensed exchanges: Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax. This data will help tax officials check crypto gains and losses more clearly.

Moreover, the government will be creating guidelines for taxpayers. The government will create formulas that are based on the differences between crypto-trading and stock trading. The engineers will integrate the HomeTax platform with exchange databases. This will minimize mistakes when submitting returns. They will conduct a pilot test for the exchange of information before the 2027 tax year begins.

New Systems and Global Standards

The tax agency last month issued a rush call for a “Virtual Asset Integrated Analysis System” on the government procurement website. Work began in April, with testing planned for November and launch expected in December. 

South Korea is also preparing to share crypto transaction data with other countries through the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, known as CARF. The framework was developed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development to improve tax transparency in digital assets.

CARF will give governments a clearer view of international crypto activity. It could help South Korea track overseas crypto income from citizens who trade on foreign exchanges. The agency aims to finish the required systems this year, ahead of the May 2028 tax filing season.

Political Opposition Still Creates Uncertainty

However, there is no guarantee that the crypto tax will go ahead, as the People Power Party of South Korea has proposed canceling the project altogether. The party says the current law does not clearly explain how different types of crypto income should be taxed. One example is staking rewards, where users lock their crypto to support a blockchain network and earn rewards in return.

🇰🇷JUST IN: SOUTH KOREA OPPOSITION MOVES TO SCRAP 2027 CRYPTO TAX ENTIRELY

South Korea's opposition party has introduced a bill to fully abolish the planned 22% crypto capital gains tax scheduled for 2027.

The party argues that it creates an unfair disparity, given that stock… pic.twitter.com/BunESTNyVS

— BSCN (@BSCNews) March 19, 2026

Moreover, excessive tax policies in South Korea can make cryptocurrency traders consider foreign crypto exchanges, some of which might be beyond the jurisdiction of information-sharing platforms like CARF. Meanwhile, the National Tax Service is working on the existing legislation. But it will depend on whether the lawmakers maintain the current tax schedule or change the rules before they take effect.

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