South Korea Moves to Tax Stablecoin Gains, Bringing AI Agent Payments Into Scope

South Korea Moves to Tax Stablecoin Gains, Bringing AI Agent Payments Into Scope

South Korea plans to impose a capital gains tax on gains from holding and trading stablecoins, and to bring automated payments initiated by AI agents into the tax net. According to a report by the Seoul Economic Daily, the proposal was designed under the leadership of South Korean tax authorities, aiming to fill the gap in the current tax code for automated digital asset transactions.

Under the preliminary framework, gains from price differences generated by taxpayers through stablecoin trading would be taxed at a certain rate, and small, high-frequency payments executed by AI agents would likewise need to be recorded and declared. This means that machine-to-machine payments in South Korea would, for the first time, face explicit tax collection requirements, rather than remaining solely at the level of anti-money laundering and KYC.

The proposal is still at a pre-legislative stage, and the specific tax rate, threshold, and effective date have not yet been finalized. South Korea has previously implemented real-name verification and the travel rule for virtual asset transactions. This extension of taxation to agent payments may provide a reference sample for other jurisdictions.

Source: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMikwFBVV95cUxQay1QQ2VDdTN6WmR3MXNzaFE4Yk13bk02a3pEeDMtS25vT2ZDNUo0VU5RNk03UzloWWM2X250eU9pTFBCWHZOQ244MXpiZWhIbS0yVzBySm95SFVIdlF4X2hEYmlGSzd5TS1vc1ExMjNtSUxHR1BEZXJmY2JnN19YNUJtQzAzcFlUYXp1cEZWS0FGTW8?oc=5