Latest South Korean Tax Evasion Busts: Crypto Worth USD 47m Seized
The South Korean crackdown on high-band taxpayers who have used crypto purchases to hide the scale of their earnings from the taxman has rolled on to the affluent Gyeonggi Province, catching some big fish – with crypto confiscated from rich doctors and TV stars. Since gaining the powers they needed to access crypto exchange data in March this year, tax bodies across the country have been taking it in turn to pore over transaction records and tax declarations to look for discrepancies. Thus far, thousands of individuals and companies have been identified in the busts, which have seen tax bodies freeze accounts, seize tokens – and even liquidate in many instances. Earlier this year, the crackdown reached the capital Seoul, where authorities seized crypto from 1,566 individuals and 676 companies in the highest tax band. Some, including a mega-rich hospital owner, pleaded with the tax body to refrain from selling their coins, instead stumping up fiat to pay their outstanding tax bills. In areas like Daejeon, Gyeongju and South Gyeongsang Province, smaller numbers of offenders have also had their coins seized. But the latest busts – including those in Gyeonggi Province – appear to have snagged some major players. The province, which surrounds Seoul, is home