South Korea and Japan preparing to tax bitcoin trading

Following China’s fall from 1st place of the world’s Bitcoin trading volumes, countries (where the volume has moved to) are drafting up legislation and preparing to deal with everything efficiently. This represents the main reason why South Korea has decided to start preparing the legislative framework needed to tax cryptocurrency trading.

According to Han Seung-hee, who is the main commissioner of the National Tax Service in South Korea addressed lawmakers recently, and told them that the best ways of taxing digital currencies are currently under discussion, including VAT, gift taxes and capital tax gains.

When asked what the taxation plan is, the commissioner mentioned that: “I am still taxing business income, and I am discussing whether to tax the value-added tax or capital gains tax with regard to virtual currencies such as Bitcoin.”

On the other side of the spectrum, Japan is also preparing legislation needed to tax Bitcoin. The Japanese National Tax Agency recently reported that: “Bitcoins can be used for purchasing goods, etc., and profits arising from using them will be subject to income tax (…) Gains and arising from the use of bitcoin, as a general rule, except for cases arising in association with acts that cause various incomes such as business income, are classified as miscellaneous income. “

While there have been numerous reports of regulators preparing stricter legislation for digital currency exchanges, such as liability laws, stricter verification for its users, due diligence and more, it seems like these will only be drafted after further inspections on the market.

Based on everything that has been outlined so far, what do you think of South Korea preparing to implement taxes for those engaging in bitcoin trading? Do you think this could affect sites where one can play Bitcoin dice, poker, and other casino games? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.