South Korea’s Most Populated Province Traces and Collects $4.6M From Crypto Tax Evaders

• South Korea’s most populated province, Gyeonggi, has implemented a digital tracking system for the first time in the country that has helped it collect arrears from crypto tax evaders.

• The $4.6 million collected has been from the 2,390 violators out of the 5,910 identified.

South Korea’s most populated province, Gyeonggi, has collected $4.6 million from crypto tax evaders, it announced on Thursday, according to a local report by Yonhap News Agency.

The tracing and collection of the crypto accounts of the tax evaders was made possible by the implementation of a digital tracking system, which is being used for the first time in the country.

The process involved using the local registration number of violators or delinquents, as they are referred to in South Korea, held by local governments. This revealed the mobile numbers of the violators, which were then used to track the linked accounts on crypto exchanges. The system reduced the previous six-month long process of requesting case-to-case information from crypto exchanges to a mere 15 days.

The system helped find 5,910 people who owed more than $2262 each. The $4.6 million collected so far has been from only 2,390 people last year.

“We will continue to take strong collection action against unscrupulous delinquents who say they do not have money to pay taxes and trade virtual assets,” said Noh Seung-ho, head of the Provincial Tax Justice Department, according to Yonhap News Agency.

South Korea has repeatedly delayed bringing its tax policies on crypto earnings, while investigating some firms for tax evasion.