Since all crypto wallets are legally linked to bank accounts with a "real name", a verified social security number and a mobile phone, officials were able to identify 5,208 crypto investors who did not pay taxes but own cryptocurrency. The city authorities said they decided to "issue an ultimatum to violators and actively collect overdue taxes" by "confiscating and selling" digital assets belonging to these individuals.
"The value of virtual assets owned by local evaders has increased dramatically, and overdue debts to the city have reached more than $12 million. The authorities are investigating the activities of 5,200 citizens who, according to tax authorities, maliciously hide from the tax service, but at the same time own digital assets on exchanges such as Bithumb, Upbit, Korbit and Coinone," sources tell the Kyongbuk daily newspaper Maeil Shinmun in the tax department.
The Pohang City Tax Office said the unprecedented move was part of a "Comprehensive plan to collect local tax arrears for 2024," formed based on the results of the 2023 tax company. Officials claim that due to close attention to the activities of crypto investors in 2023, South Korean tax authorities managed to obtain an additional amount of tax collections in the amount of about $ 29 million.
Earlier, the Department of Tax Justice of the South Korean province of Gyeonggi-do reported on the successful testing of a system for intelligent tracking of cryptocurrency transactions and identification of tax evaders. The new debt control system is based on end-to-end tracking of citizens' registration data and identification of their probable connection with operations in the digital asset market.