Gyeonggi-do Seizes 6.1 Billion KRW Worth of Cryptocurrency Held by Delinquent Non-Tax Revenue Debtors

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province conducted a comprehensive investigation into the cryptocurrency holdings of 30,000 non-tax revenue defaulters and seized cryptocurrency worth 6.1 billion KRW from 1,661 individuals. This cryptocurrency seizure targeting non-tax revenue defaulters is the largest scale nationwide.

Local non-tax revenue refers to self-generated income of local governments other than local taxes such as acquisition tax and registration tax. It includes revenues imposed and collected by law for administrative purposes such as usage fees, commissions, fines, and penalties.

From May to August, Gyeonggi Province launched a full investigation into cryptocurrency transactions and holdings of 29,656 non-tax revenue defaulters with arrears exceeding 1 million KRW.

Since virtual currency exchanges collect and retain only members' names and dates of birth instead of resident registration numbers, which could be exploited for asset concealment, the province focused on securing mobile phone numbers used for identity verification during membership registration. The province collaborated with credit information agencies to obtain defaulters' mobile phone numbers and cross-checked them against member information from virtual asset exchanges to conduct the investigation.

As a result, it was confirmed that 1,661 non-tax revenue defaulters held cryptocurrency worth 6.1 billion KRW across four exchanges, and immediate seizure measures were taken. Their total outstanding arrears amount to 14.4 billion KRW.

Among the major cases uncovered, Mr. G, a clothing wholesaler in Goyang City, was found to hold 500 million KRW in cryptocurrency but had not paid a 20 million KRW enforcement penalty for illegal factory expansion last year, leading to his exposure in this investigation.

Mr. N, the CEO of a frozen food company in Namyangju City, was revealed to have concealed 600 million KRW in cryptocurrencies including Dogecoin, despite owing 40 million KRW in enforcement penalties imposed for illegally changing his business site to a warehouse in 2017.

Mr. D, a real estate rental business owner in Namyangju City, was found to possess 60 million KRW in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin while defaulting on 50 million KRW in enforcement penalties since 2018 for illegal expansion of animal and plant-related facilities and unauthorized landform changes.

The province plans to collect the non-tax revenue arrears by encouraging voluntary payment from these individuals. If payment is not made, collection procedures will be carried out targeting the seized cryptocurrencies.

Kim Min-kyung, Director of the Tax Justice Division of the province, stated, "With the rapid increase in virtual asset investors in recent years, we anticipated that some non-tax revenue defaulters might be hiding assets in cryptocurrencies, and thus deemed it necessary to carry out collection activities targeting them. We will do our best to realize tax justice and foster a culture of sincere tax payment by developing new collection methods and actively settling arrears."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.