South Korea’s latest crypto-tax debate centers on whether investors should be allowed to carry losses forward into future years. The supplied current-affairs report says a National Assembly tax subcommittee warned in its 2026 regular-session review materials that such relief could fuel speculation, while Yonhap reported on Nov. 5 that the government wants to postpone crypto taxation until 2029.

Why the carryforward debate has resurfaced

The immediate trigger is a reported clash between parliamentary review concerns and a broader government tax proposal. According to the supplied report, a National Assembly tax subcommittee argued in its 2026 regular-session materials that permitting digital-asset tax-loss carryforwards could intensify market speculation and lacks sufficient policy justification when compared with earlier rules for financial investment income.

The issue resurfaced as Yonhap reported on Nov. 5 that the government would seek to shift the planned start of cryptocurrency-gains taxation from 2027 to 2029 and work with the National Assembly on the change. Taken together, the reports suggest that loss carryforwards are part of a broader redesign of South Korea’s crypto-tax framework, rather than a settled matter.

How a three-year crypto loss carryforward would work

Under the government proposal described by Bloomberg Tax and CHOSUNBIZ, crypto investment losses incurred in one year could be used to reduce taxable gains in later years for up to three years after taxation begins. Put simply, investors could offset future profits with earlier losses rather than being taxed solely on annual gains without relief for losses from previous years.

The supplied report says the tax subcommittee objects to this approach for two main reasons. First, it argues that carryforwards could make the digital-asset market more speculative. Second, it says the fairness argument is weaker because the former financial investment income tax framework that supported similar treatment has been abolished.

Within the scope of the reported proposal, available media extracts also describe a 22% tax rate, including local tax, on annual cryptocurrency gains exceeding 2.5 million won.

What crypto investors can rely on for now

South Korean crypto investors cannot yet rely on being able to carry losses forward against future gains. The current record supports two points at once: the government reportedly favors a three-year carryforward as part of a proposed 2029 tax delay, while a National Assembly tax subcommittee has reportedly pushed back against that relief.

What the record does not establish is a final legislative outcome. No supplied bill text, committee voting record, or adopted National Assembly decision shows that the carryforward has been approved, removed, or fixed in the eventual regime. The clearest conclusion, therefore, is that loss carryforwards remain an active policy proposal under debate, not a confirmed taxpayer entitlement.

The next meaningful development will be legislative: whether a future amendment retains or removes the reported three-year carryforward provision as South Korea reworks its timetable for crypto taxation.