South Korea plans new crypto tax guidelines next month

South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) has announced plans to issue cryptocurrency tax guidelines in November 2026, ahead of the country’s scheduled 22% tax on qualifying digital asset gains beginning January 1, 2027. During an October 13 parliamentary audit, NTS Commissioner Lim Gwang-hyeon told lawmakers that preparations were underway to publish detailed taxation standards next month. The announcement followed questions about how authorities would calculate income from staking, airdrops, hard forks and decentralized finance (DeFi). Lim said the tax agency was working with cryptocurrency exchanges and the Ministry of Finance and Economy to prepare the necessary systems. During the National Assembly’s Finance, Economy and Planning Committee audit, People Power Party lawmaker Lim I-ja questioned whether authorities had established clear taxation standards for different cryptocurrency activities.