Suwon City Collects Overdue Taxes by Seizing and Directly Selling Virtual Assets

Suwon City in Gyeonggi Province seized the 'virtual assets' (cryptocurrency) of major local tax delinquents and collected overdue taxes by directly executing the sale process.

Previously, it was possible to collect Korean won deposits held by delinquents at virtual asset exchanges, but under current law, it was not possible to seize virtual assets themselves.

Suwon City reviewed and applied relevant legal procedures, and carried out the delinquent disposition by taking over the seized virtual assets and selling them directly.

The city opened an account in its own name at Upbit, a major domestic virtual asset exchange, and transferred the seized virtual assets from the delinquents to the Suwon City account, then disposed of them by direct sale.

The direct sale of virtual assets was conducted based on the 'Local Tax Collection Act.'

Suwon City Hall

In the second half of last year, Suwon City sent advance notices of direct sale to major local tax delinquents holding virtual assets at the Upbit exchange, sending notifications to a total of 14 people. After the notifications, the city submitted asset transfer requests to the exchange for 11 people, excluding those who paid voluntarily after receiving the notice.

For those whose assets could not be collected due to prior seizures or other reasons, collection was not possible. For the remaining delinquents, the city took over the seized virtual assets and directly sold them, collecting approximately 13 million won in overdue taxes. Including the amount voluntarily paid by delinquents who received the direct sale notice, the total collected was about 19 million won.

So far, Suwon City has seized the virtual assets of 198 major local tax delinquents through delinquent dispositions involving virtual assets, collecting a total of 333 million won. This is the first time Suwon City has pursued the direct sale of seized virtual assets.

A Suwon City official stated, "Previously, it was impossible to collect seized virtual assets without the delinquent's consent, but after analyzing the relevant laws, we achieved results by directly selling them and collecting chronic overdue taxes. We will continue our efforts to close the loopholes in delinquent disposition and realize tax justice."