South Korea to impose tax on staking and airdrops

Tokens received by residents of South Korea as a result of hard forks and airdrops, as well as stakingrewards will be included in the calculation of inheritance and gift tax. This was stated by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance of South Korea, local media write.

The tax will be "levied on a third party thattransfers the virtual asset free of charge”. The rate will be 10-50%. The law requires the recipient to file a tax return within three months of the operation.

The agency acknowledged that the transfer of cryptocurrencies should be considered on a case-by-case basis, given the lack of regulatory clarity on the matter.

“Whether a particular transaction with virtual assets is taxed depends on the specific situation. For example, whether it is a reward or whether the actual property and profits are transferred”,- noted the officials.

The clarification complements the decision taken in July 2022 to postpone the entry into force of the tax on income from operations with digital assets until January 1, 2025.

Initially, the authorities planned to introduce a 20% tax on the income of bitcoin traders from January 1, 2022.

Despite the support of the government's plans by citizens, in September 2021, parliamentarians from the ruling Toburo Democratic Party voted for a one-year delay.

In October, representatives of the opposition Power of the People party made a similar proposal. The parliamentarians explained their position by the unpreparedness of the fiscal infrastructure for the introduction of the tax.

The government fought off the legislators' attemptsto approve the postponement, but at the end of November, the relevant committee of the National Assembly voted for a bipartisan amendment postponing the introduction of taxation.

Recall that in May 2022, the media reported that the newly elected president of the country, Yoon Sok-yeol, spoke for a new postponement.

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