South Korea plans to tax crypto gains

The South Korean government wants to start taxing residents’ cryptocurrency-related profits.

The country’s Ministry of Economy and Finance is pushing for the measure to be implemented next year, local news outlet The Korea Times reported Sunday, citing “government sources.”

"Related discussions have been taking place. The revised bill will be drawn up by the first half of next year," an anonymous ministry official told the news outlet.

The government is reportedly seeking to levy capital gains tax on cryptocurrencies regardless of the bill's passage. To that end, the government will need to have a precise definition of cryptocurrencies and decide how it will tax crypto gains - in line with stocks or real estate capital gains, per the report. The government will also reportedly have to get trading records from cryptocurrency exchanges in order to levy taxes accordingly.

Just last month, Ukraine also proposed a draft bill to tax crypto gains. If the bill gets passed, the European country will levy an initial 5% tax on crypto gains for the first five years. Post that period, the standard rate of 18% could apply.