Cheongju City, South Korea opens virtual asset accounts to sell cryptocurrencies seized from tax-owed persons

According to the news from Bijie.com, according to Yonhap News Agency on September 20, the city of Cheongju, South Korea, opened a virtual asset trading account in the name of the local government, allowing taxpayers who default on local taxes to directly sell their virtual assets. Since 2021, the city has seized virtual assets of 203 taxpayers who have defaulted on local taxes through measures such as suspension of transactions. However, tax revenue is limited due to the lack of liquidation methods. To solve this problem, the city opened a virtual asset trading account in the name of local governments. If the taxpayer fails to pay, the seized virtual assets will be transferred to the municipal account and sold directly. However, due to the high volatility of the price of virtual assets, the city will advise taxpayers who default on taxes to sell their virtual assets to repay their debts and initiate a mandatory sale process if necessary. The virtual currency seized this time came from 161 people who were owed about 1.50 billion won in local taxes. "We will do our best to recover these assets and ensure that virtual assets are no longer used as a means of tax evasion," a city official said.