S. Korea To Tax Crypto Exchanges 24.2 Percent, In Line With Existing Tax Policy

Local news agency Yonhap reports that South Korean government has declared Monday, Jan. 22 that it will gather a 22 percent corporate tax and a 2.2 percent nearby salary tax from the country's cryptocurrency exchanges.

The tax declaration comes directly after the finish of an extraordinary anti-money laundering probe into six major South Korean banks that demonstrated a 36 times increment in commissions from virtual records connected to crypto exchanges, from 61 mln won ($57,340) in 2016 to 2.2 bln won ($2 mln) in 2017.

Yonhap reports that South Korean exchange Bithumb made 317.6 bln won ($295,368,000) a year ago altogether, so is required to pay around 60 mln won in taxes, as indicated by the assessment rates declared Monday.

The declared assessment rates are in accordance with the South Korean duty code for all organizations that make a yearly salary of more than 20 bln won ($18.7 mln).

Bithumb, which is the biggest exchange all inclusive at $2.85 bln day by day trading volume as of press time, was hacked in February 2017, losing about $7 mln in for the most part Bitcoin and Ether. This security break, alongside a few different ruptures of South Korean exchanges, has as of late been all the more conclusively linked to North Korean hackers.

The South Korean government has recently been stepping up enforcement of cryptocurrency regulation within the country. Besides ordering the financial probe, the government has banned the use of anonymous virtual accounts, frozen the opening of new virtual accounts, and forbid underage and foreign users from trading on exchanges.

The South Korean public has fought back with a petition to stop the recent government regulations. After reaching the necessary 200,000 signatures, the petition is currently awaiting an official response from the government.