'Key issues determining actual tax burden must be reviewed'
'National Assembly, government must support corporate innovation'
People Power Party lawmaker Park Soo-young urged the government Monday to enact a digital asset framework law and establish a rational tax system, saying the two-year extension of the virtual asset tax deferral must not go to waste.
Park, a member of the National Assembly's Finance and Economy Committee, made the remarks at the inaugural World Digital Assets Forum (WDAF), hosted by The Herald Business and The Korea Herald at The Grand Lotte Seoul in Sogong-dong, Jung-gu. "I strongly welcome this decision, as the problems that have been raised and the voices of investors are finally beginning to be reflected in policy," Park said.
Park said the deferral period must be used to build an institutional foundation that investors can accept. "We must first enact a digital asset framework law and establish a rational tax system that investors can understand," Park said. "We also need to set specific standards for loss carryover deductions and carefully review key issues that determine the actual tax burden, such as profit-and-loss aggregation."
Park also raised the need for international cooperation to strengthen the effectiveness of the tax system. "We must complete verification of the tax system infrastructure at domestic exchanges and reform international cooperation frameworks — including CARF, the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework — to secure information on overseas transactions," Park said.
Park added that clear rules to protect investors must be established so that companies can develop new technologies and services in a predictable environment, enabling South Korea to lead the digital asset market.
Park called for faster legislation in line with shifts in global financial markets. "Digital asset technologies — including stablecoins, payments, blockchain, remittances and real-world asset tokenization — are expanding into the domain of traditional finance," Park said. "For South Korea to seize this opportunity amid such change, the regulatory regime must evolve at the pace of technological innovation."
Park said it is the role of the National Assembly and the government to bolster market confidence while supporting corporate innovation. "I hope the National Assembly, whose legislation still lags behind global standards, picks up the pace and translates that into concrete proposals for South Korea to shape the future of digital assets," Park added.
mp1256@heraldcorp.com
