Cheongju, a city in South Korea’s North Chungcheong Province, has been cracking down hard on unpaid taxes. Since 2021, officials have seized cryptocurrency from 203 residents who failed to pay their local tax bills.
What makes this story really interesting is how they’re doing it now. The city actually opened its own trading account on a local crypto exchange, which makes it one of the first government bodies to take this step. They’re basically saying if you won’t pay up, we’ll grab your Bitcoin and sell it ourselves.
This whole thing got easier for them after South Korea’s Financial Services Commission started letting government agencies and charities buy and sell crypto. Before that, the city could freeze people’s coins but had trouble actually converting them to cash to pay the tax bills.
Now here’s how it works: if you owe taxes and have crypto, the city can force exchanges to hand over your wallet data. Then they can transfer your coins directly to their own wallet and sell them off. No more waiting around or dealing with complicated legal processes.
The latest crackdown hit 161 people who collectively owed about $1.1 million in taxes. A city official made it pretty clear they’re not backing down, saying crypto won’t be a “tax haven” for people trying to dodge their bills anymore. Seoul’s Gangnam district is doing something similar and has already grabbed about $244,000 since last year.
Conclusion
Cheongju’s bold move marks a turning point in tax enforcement, proving that crypto isn’t beyond government reach. With Seoul districts following suit, South Korea is signaling a tough new era for tax dodgers hiding behind digital assets.
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