54% of Koreans say they support crypto taxes

A new survey in South Korea has shown that 53.7% of respondents support the upcoming implementation of capital gain taxes on profits from crypto trading, local outlet Yonhap News Agency reported today.

Per the publication, the survey was conducted by public opinion-focused company Realmeter on 500 Koreans aged 18 and older last Friday.

According to the results, 53.7% of respondents voiced their support for the government’s tax initiative while 38.3% were against it. Among the survey takers, 60% of women and 47.3% of men were in favor of new taxes, while 31% and 45.7%, respectively, rejected them.

In terms of age, Koreans in their 20s were the only group where opponents of new taxes slightly outnumbered their supporters—by 47.8% to 47.5%. Meanwhile, 60% of respondents in their 40s and 57.2% in their 50s said they approve crypto taxes.

Crypto taxes are coming

As CryptoSlate reported, Korean officials proposed to enforce a 20% tax on crypto gains earlier this year, drawing the ire of some cryptocurrency investors. However, it looks like the initiative is being postponed—but not canceled—to at least 2022.

Last week, Yang Hyang-ja, a member of the National Assembly of South Korea, and Democratic Party lawmakers reportedly said they are currently considering delaying the crypto taxes.

Korea’s ruling party member suggests at least one year delay on taxation of cryptocurrency as she believes institutional adoption and understanding of cryptocurrency will take some time 🤔🤔https://t.co/H4aNP0beSh https://t.co/qoPTbyV5x4

— Doo (@DooWanNam) April 26, 2021

“Korea’s ruling party member suggests at least one year delay on taxation of cryptocurrency as she believes institutional adoption and understanding of cryptocurrency will take some time,” tweeted Doo Wan Nam, head of MakerDAO in Asia.

At the same time, some experts have pointed out that “obsession” with cryptocurrencies and huge gains is starting to have a detrimental effect on young Koreans, up to the point where it hurts their jobs.

For example, compulsive crypto price tracking could be part of a wider problem with “cryptocurrency addiction” that is similar to gambling, some psychology specialists noted last week.

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