The South Korean city of Ansan has announced that it will confiscate crypto from tax dodgers who fail to pay local levies.
Per Newsis, government leaders in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, said on August 2 that it would start using a “virtual asset platform seizure system” to “recover unpaid local taxes.”
The city will roll out the platform “starting this month,” officials added.
Ansan Plans to Confiscate Crypto from Residents Who Don’t Pay Bills
The city noted that the domestic crypto market capitalization reached the $31.7 billion mark last year.
Crypto ownership rates are high in Gyeonggi Province. The province is one of the most affluent parts of the country.
Ansan is responding to similar moves launched in other parts of the country. By using data from major South Korean crypto exchanges, cities can monitor their residents’ crypto-linked bank accounts and wallets.
If any of these match up with details of unpaid local tax bills, cities have been given powers to freeze wallets and demand payment.
Should citizens fail to settle their tax bills, the city can forcibly liquidate the coins on the exchange and transfer the fiat to its own accounts.
Ansan said it was now “urgent to come up with countermeasures.” It said local tax “delinquents” have been “abusing virtual assets as a means of hiding” their wealth.
The media outlet explained that previous efforts to seize and freeze crypto from tax dodgers were only carried out as a part of a “pilot program.”
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— Bloomberg (@business) July 30, 2024
‘We Will Increase Tax Revenues by Hunting Crypto Offenders’ – Ansan
However, the city said, “starting this month,” Ansan would use the platform “across all” of its “local tax revenue sectors.”
The city said it expects to “find hidden tax arrears.” It said it would “increase tax revenue” as it begins crypto wallet monitoring. Ansan’s Mayor Lee Min-geun said:
“We will use the platform to find people who commit illegal acts such tax evasion. We will do our utmost to ensure the operation of a fair and reasonable tax system.”
Last month, Ansan police arrested several people in the city as part of a nationwide crackdown on a suspected $4.3 million crypto-powered drug trafficking ring.