The Seoul Metropolitan Government’s tax department in South Korea has reportedly seized about $25 million worth of cryptocurrencies from hundreds of cryptocurrency investors with back taxes. Cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, were seized on three exchanges. The IRS is currently prosecuting hundreds of other taxpayers for not paying their taxes.
Crypto tax receipts
Seoul’s capital government announced Friday that it has seized the cryptocurrencies of hundreds of people who do not pay taxes, Yonhap reported.
Three cryptocurrency exchanges have been identified by the city’s tax department with 1,566 people, including executives. So far, tax authorities have seized the coins of 676 people who owe the government 28.4 billion won (about $25.47 million) in back taxes. It will quickly go after the cryptographic assets of the other 890 people.
Since the seizure of the cryptocurrency, 118 taxpayers have recovered 1.26 billion won, the city government said, elaborating further:
Delinquent taxpayers constantly ask us not to sell their cryptocurrencies because they will pay their taxes.
We believe that taxpayers expect the value of their cryptocurrencies to continue to rise due to the recent rise in cryptocurrency prices and have decided that it would be more beneficial for them to pay their taxes in arrears and receive garnishment, the government said in a statement.
The council cited the example of a hospital executive where cryptocurrencies were seized. He asked the authorities not to sell his coins and immediately paid 580 million won of the 1 billion won he owed in unpaid taxes and got the rest.
Similarly, another taxpayer asked the government not to sell his seized cryptocurrencies worth 3 million won, arguing that their value would rise significantly in two years and more than cover his tax arrears of 20 million won.
According to the Internal Revenue Service, bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency among delinquent taxpayers (19%), followed by Dragonvein and XRP, both at 16% each. The second most popular cryptocurrency is Ethereum (10%), followed by Stellar (9%).
What do you think about the local South Korean tax authorities seizing cryptocurrencies to pay taxes? Let us know your comments in the section below.
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