More than half of Koreans support tax on crypto gains: survey

More than half of Koreans favor taxation on gains from cryptocurrency trading, a survey showed on Monday, lending support to the government’s move to levy tax on the digital assets.

According to a poll by local survey firm Realmeter, 53.7 percent of the people polled said they back the planned taxation on cryptocurrency next year while 38.3 percent of them said they opposed the plan. Female respondents were more supportive over the taxation scheme over male respondents.

The percentage of respondents opposing the plan was slightly higher in the group of people aged between 20 and 29, known as the most active cryptocurrency investors than any other age categories. While 47.8 percent of respondents in their 20s said they were against the tax plan, 47.5 percent said they supported it.

According to data compiled by lawmaker Kwon Eun-hee, investors in their 20s and 30s were the most active participants with some 2.35 million having had experience in trading digital coins at least once on the four largest crypto exchanges -- - Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit in the first quarter. Half of the 2.35 million were the first timers.

With facing opposition from young investors, the government has been pushing for taxation on crypto gains.

“When capital gains are generated from transactions of virtual assets, we cannot help but to impose tax for fair taxation,” said Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki last week.

Starting from January 2022, investors who make more than 2.5 million won ($2,234) from cryptocurrency trading are subject to a 20 percent capital gain tax.

The survey, commissioned by local TV station YTN, was conducted among 500 adults on Friday, and showed a 95 percent confidence level with the margin of error at 4.4 percent, plus or minus.

By Park Ga-Young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)