North Gyeongsang Province in South Korea tracks down high-income tax defaulters during virtual currency rally to collect 1.5 billion won

The Gyeongsangbuk-do government in South Korea has uncovered 8.7 billion won (approximately 920 million yen) in virtual currency through a simultaneous investigation into long-term delinquent taxpayers who are abusing virtual currency as a means of hiding assets.
The investigation into virtual currencies targeted over 34,000 people who owed more than 500,000 won in local taxes.
We tracked the flow of delinquent cryptocurrency through three domestic cryptocurrency exchanges. As the price of cryptocurrency has recently risen sharply due to changes in the international situation, there is a possibility that delinquent taxpayers will invest in cryptocurrency.
As a result, 28 billion won (US$28 million) was uncovered from over 5,500 accounts belonging to people who were in arrears on local taxes.
Among the defaulters who were arrested this time were those from various occupations with tax-paying capacity, such as medical professionals and those related to religion.
One defaulter had been in arrears of over 1 million won (US$1,000) for a long time, but the investigation revealed that he held over 10 billion won (US$1,000) in cryptocurrency.
In addition, a person who was in arrears with local taxes of 60 million won (approximately 6.35 million yen) and whose assets had not been investigated and no action had been taken,
In one case, 35 million won (approximately 3.7 million yen) in virtual currency was seized. If it is confirmed that a delinquent has virtual currency, it will be immediately seized and all funds will be withdrawn or sold.
In the future, if local tax defaulters do not pay their overdue taxes, their property will be seized.
The plan is to sell the virtual currency on the exchange and use the proceeds to pay unpaid taxes. Last year, North Gyeongsang Province also collected 1.3 billion won (US$1.4 million) in a virtual currency investigation. This year, the amount was collected through court custody and auction.
The government plans to introduce new collection methods, such as inquiries, and continue to pursue the assets of long-term delinquent taxpayers.