Authorities in South Korea have seized approximately $90,000 worth of digital assets from tax defaulters. The tokens, held on different exchanges, were seized in connection to the individuals’ refusal to fulfill their tax obligations. The defaulters risk their assets being sold if they refuse to obey the directive before the end of November.
According to the report, the 17 individuals have been notified of the development, and have also been informed about the penalty if they refuse to pay.
South Korean local government authorities to punish tax evaders
Per reports from local news station Yonhap News, the defaulters owe a cumulative total of 124 million won. The South Korean authorities noted that the seized assets are presently worth about $35,000 or 50 million won in today’s market. This means the worth of the seized digital assets is still not enough to cover the cumulative amount owed.
For the first time, a local government in South Korea has warned that it can directly sell cryptocurrencies held by tax defaulters on exchanges. Officials have issued notices to 17 people and seized their cryptocurrencies through CEXs and warned that if the taxes are not paid…
— LondonCryptoClub (@LDNCryptoClub) November 20, 2024
The officials seized the assets in collaboration with several centralized exchanges, being the first in the country to achieve that fast. Initially, the government had warned residents to pay their taxes promptly to avoid their assets being seized. The residents who think they were smart enough to try to hide their assets have been busted and their assets seized.
This event is not new in South Korea as an earlier seizure for tax evasion happened in July. Officials in the Paju district seized 100 million won worth of assets linked to unpaid taxes. The officials claimed the suspects tried to evade paying their taxes by hiding it in crypto, despite having the means to pay.
According to the officials, about 64 people were discovered to have owed more than one million won in unpaid taxes. The officials claimed these people had a cumulative 280 million won worth of digital assets. The authorities said the suspects held a cumulative total unpaid taxes of about 650 million won.
Fireblocks set to provide tax refunds through NongHyup Bank
South Korea announced a deal to allow Fireblocks to tokenize tax refunds through NongHyup Bank. The initiative hopes to refund value-added tax and goods and services tax at retail outlets.
Fireblocks CEO Michael Shaulov tokenization will help eliminate fraud and manual fraud by using special digital identifiers attached to assets, and allow real-time tracking.
Authorities worldwide have turned to the initiative, especially when it involves using digital assets as a means to evade tax. The Kenya Revenue Authority is putting plans in place to obtain a digital tax system that will involve crypto tax the country usually won’t consider.
South Africa’s Revenue Service also mandated its residents dealing in crypto-related activities in October to include crypto transactions in their tax filings. The taxman said that the tax system in the country will soon be updated to help the agency track the transactions.
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