South Korea's ruling and opposition parties traded barbs over digital asset taxation, set to take effect in January next year. The government said it will make a final decision after collecting views from the National Assembly and the industry.

At the comprehensive parliamentary audit by the National Assembly's Fiscal and Economic Planning Committee on Oct. 22, Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Ho-jung (윤후덕) said repeated postponements of digital asset taxation are undermining policy consistency.

Yoon said taxation is already in place in major countries such as the United States, Japan, Germany and Britain. "Each time it was postponed, they said they would prepare, but they are repeating the same story again," he said.

Digital asset taxation was introduced through a 2020 revision of the Income Tax Act and has been delayed three times. Under the current law, it takes effect from January 2027. The government is also proceeding with administrative steps in line with the current schedule.

People Power Party lawmaker Lim I-ja (임이자), meanwhile, pointed to taxation fairness and infrastructure issues between domestic and overseas exchanges. She said overseas exchanges, unlike domestic ones, are not required to submit transaction statements to South Korean tax authorities, which could create a practical gap in taxation.

Lim said legal taxation standards and taxation infrastructure remain insufficient. She also cited an industry view that digital asset service providers need at least 6 to 9 months to build systems in line with National Tax Service notices.

The government has not yet reached a conclusion on whether to proceed or delay again.

Finance Minister Lee Hyeong-il (이형일), who also serves as deputy prime minister for the economy, said, "There are opinions from the industry and from the National Assembly, so I will gather them all and decide after as much careful consideration as possible."

The digital asset tax was also discussed at the comprehensive audit by the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee on the same day.

Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eok-won (이억원) replied to a question from People Power Party lawmaker Song Eon-seok (송언석) on whether to scrap the tax or delay its implementation. "I think we need to fully take into account various circumstances," he said.

Song said it is problematic to implement taxation first when the legal nature of digital assets and policy direction have not been sufficiently clarified, and argued that enactment of a Digital Assets Basic Act should come first.

Lee said, "We are in final-stage consultations on bills related to digital assets," and added, "We will make it possible to discuss them as quickly as possible." He also said he understands that various views on taxation are currently being collected.

With about 2 months left before implementation of the digital asset tax, future discussions are expected to focus not only on whether taxation itself is necessary but also on whether infrastructure for actual enforcement is sufficiently in place, including securing transaction information from overseas exchanges, calculating acquisition costs and building taxation systems.