Stakeholders including industry and experts to be heard

Tax revenue hard to estimate before filings begin

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hyung-il said Tuesday he would "broadly gather diverse opinions from experts, the industry and other stakeholders, along with the various views raised in the National Assembly" regarding the controversy over the planned taxation of virtual assets.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hyung-il answers lawmakers' questions at a national audit session of the National Assembly's fiscal and economic planning committee on Tuesday. [Yonhap]
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hyung-il answers lawmakers' questions at a national audit session of the National Assembly's fiscal and economic planning committee on Tuesday. [Yonhap]

Lee made the remarks at the national audit of the National Assembly's fiscal and economic planning committee on Tuesday, in response to a question from People Power Party lawmaker Kim Sang-hoon asking whether it remained the government's basic position to proceed with the virtual asset tax as scheduled next year.

Kim said the infrastructure needed to impose taxes on virtual assets is not yet sufficiently in place and that the timing of taxation should be reconsidered. He said the ability to trace and verify transactions conducted through overseas exchanges, decentralized exchanges and decentralized finance platforms remains inadequate.

Kim also raised concerns that introducing a tax while domestic virtual asset funds are already flowing overseas could further dampen market activity.

Lawmakers also pressed Lee on the expected tax revenue from virtual asset taxation. "There are parts that are genuinely difficult for us to gauge," Lee said. "To impose the tax, we first need to receive filings — under this regime, filings are set to begin next year, and only then can estimates be made."

When pressed on whether it was problematic to push ahead with taxation when the government cannot even estimate the revenue it would generate, Lee said he would "gather a wider range of opinions more broadly."

Kim urged Lee to "consult more widely and make a careful judgment," to which Lee replied, "I will keep that in mind."


y2k@heraldcorp.com