South Korea's Cheongju opens virtual asset account to sell cryptocurrencies seized from tax defaulters

PANews reported on September 20th that, according to Yonhap News Agency, Cheongju City in South Korea has opened a virtual asset trading account in the name of the local government, allowing taxpayers with delinquent local taxes to directly sell their virtual assets. Since 2021, the city has seized the virtual assets of 203 taxpayers with delinquent local taxes through measures such as suspensions of trading. However, tax revenue has been limited due to a lack of liquidation methods. To address this, the city has opened a virtual asset trading account in the name of the local government. If delinquent taxpayers fail to pay, the seized virtual assets will be transferred to the city government account and sold directly. However, due to the high volatility of virtual asset prices, the city government will recommend that delinquent taxpayers sell their virtual assets to pay their debts and, if necessary, initiate forced sales procedures. The virtual currency seized this time was from 161 individuals who owed approximately 1.5 billion won in local taxes. A city official stated, "We will do our utmost to recover these assets and ensure that virtual assets are no longer used as a means of tax evasion."