Korea’s Jeju Metropolis to Seize Crypto of Alleged Tax Evaders

Tax officers in Jeju Metropolis, the capital of the South Korean island province of Jeju, have reportedly began the method of freezing and seizing the crypto of these it believes to be dodging tax necessities. 

The transfer is a part of a broader operation that noticed authorities examine 2,962 people in arrears for a complete of 19.7 billion gained ($14.2 million), to substantiate if they’d crypto holdings that could possibly be seized to settle the excellent steadiness owed, in line with a report on Saturday by native media outlet Newsis.

Through the investigation, tax officers combed by way of knowledge from main South Korean crypto exchanges Bithumb, Dunamu’s Upbit, Coinone and Korbit, discovering 49 of the alleged tax dodgers had mixed crypto holdings valued at over $166,269.

Jeju Metropolis’s Tax Division has designated the exchanges as third-party debtors to start out seizing and securing the cash to assist pay a number of the debt owed by the alleged tax evaders. 

Tax Division used AI to research crypto transaction knowledge

Jeju is South Korea’s largest island and a vacationer hotspot. It has a historical past with crypto initiatives, together with launching non-fungible token vacationer playing cards and a blockchain-based COVID-19 contact tracing app in 2021. 

Jeju Metropolis Tax Division Chief Hwang Tae-hoon stated the town will “proceed to strengthen our response to tax delinquency utilizing new property similar to digital property to completely uncover hidden tax sources,” in line with Newsis.

He added that the Tax Division can even proceed to “acquire high-value tax delinquents by way of AI-based data evaluation, striving to safe substantial tax income and foster a tradition of sincere tax fee.”