Korea's Parties Tentatively Agree to Defer Digital Asset Tax to 2029

Provisional Deal at the Tax Subcommittee

South Korea's ruling and opposition parties reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday to postpone taxation of digital asset income by two years, pushing the point at which the levy would apply back to 2029. A tax deferral of this kind delays when the tax is actually imposed, and the arrangement worked out in the tax subcommittee of the National Assembly's Strategy and Finance Committee stops short of a final decision. Oh Ki-hyung, the Democratic Party lawmaker who chairs the subcommittee, told reporters immediately after the session that four digital asset items were discussed, that no final conclusion was reached, and that a tentative consensus exists on the delay itself while some procedural clauses remain under negotiation. Bae Joon-young of the People Power Party, the opposition's secretary on the same committee, went further. In his account the two-year delay originated with the government, produced no meaningful disagreement between the parties, and can already be treated as a done deal. Both men stressed the arrangement is not settled: the subcommittee's final decision comes on the last day of its review, so the 2029 timeline holds only if the provisional accord survives that vote.

Loss Carryforward and Deductions Left Open

Three contested design questions are what kept the agreement provisional. The first is a loss carryforward deduction, a mechanism that would let investors subtract losses incurred in one year from taxable income in later years; Oh said no conclusion was reached but that both sides appear to be thinking positively about introducing one. The second is a raise in the basic deduction, the fixed amount of income exempted from taxation before rates apply. Oh said the item was formally tabled, but the government opposed it on equity grounds, and the parties agreed to keep discussing it. The third is an obligation for virtual asset service providers, the exchanges and custodians licensed under Korea's framework, to submit taxable transaction data earlier than current rules require. Oh explained the rationale: authorities need transaction information in hand ahead of enforcement so they can simulate how new trade types would be taxed and improve accuracy. Lawmakers, however, flagged that the scope of what data operators would actually have to share still needs checking, so that clause was left undecided as well. For investors, nothing is fixed yet beyond the deferral consensus itself.

Basic Act Pledge and a Fourth Deferral

The session also produced a legislative signal beyond the tax calendar. The government told the subcommittee it intends to submit the Digital Asset Basic Act soon, without naming a date, and Oh urged the National Policy Committee to wrap up work on the bill quickly. Bae used the meeting to press a sharper criticism: counting this round, taxation of digital assets has now been deferred four times. He invoked the principle that taxation follows income and said the government must examine the matter meticulously so the next attempt is not disrupted, adding that the assembly will watch closely how seriously the administration prepares. Oh, for his part, said there is no disagreement between the parties on the principle of taxing digital asset income at all, and disclosed that he has asked the government for a checklist against which the assembly can verify its state of readiness. Taken together, the two positions set up the same test for the coming review: not whether Korea taxes digital assets, but whether the machinery to do it is actually built.

What the Delay Actually Decides

COINOTAG's read of Wednesday's session is that the date matters less than the unresolved items. A deferral to 2029 with cross-party backing is unlikely to be reversed at the subcommittee's final vote, but the effective burden on Korean investors will be decided by the loss carryforward design, the size of the basic deduction and the data-submission rules for operators, none of which has a number attached yet. The fourth postponement also shifts the burden of proof to the government: with the Basic Act promised but unscheduled, the assembly's checklist demand sets a concrete, verifiable standard for readiness before the next deadline can be trusted.