The South Korean city of Cheongju, the capital of North Chungcheong province, has said it intends to begin confiscating cryptocurrency from local tax delinquents.
The administration of Cheongju has requested seven South Korean crypto exchanges to inquire into holdings of thousands of tax evaders, the local news agency Yonhap reported on Aug. 22.
City authorities reportedly ordered trading platforms like Upbit and Bithumb to inquire into crypto assets of 8,520 users who owe at least 1 million won ($750) in local taxes. Following the inquiry, Cheongju authorities plan to confiscate cryptocurrency from tax delinquents, the report notes.
According to the city administration, cryptocurrencies have been increasingly used as a means of concealing property in South Korea. This latest initiative approach aims to ensure that South Korean residents who have evaded their tax responsibilities are held accountable.
Upbit and Bithumb did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.
In 2022, Cheongju administration reportedly managed to collect overdue taxes from 17 individuals after receiving details of their cryptocurrency holdings from around 16,000 crypto investors. The city collected a total of 68 million won ($51,000).
Tax-related cryptocurrency confiscations have increased in South Korea in recent years. In 2022 and 2021 combined, the South Korean government confiscated as much as 260 billion Korean won ($180 million) worth of cryptocurrencies from tax evaders. In 2021, the city administration of South Korea’s capital Seoul seized crypto worth 25 billion won ($22 million) from individuals and company heads.
The seizures came soon after the South Korean government in 2021 enacted laws allowing regulators to seize cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) from tax delinquents.
South Korea isn’t the only country that seizes cryptocurrency from tax evaders. Last year, Argentina’s tax authority seized more than 1,000 cryptocurrency wallets linked to delinquent taxpayers in the country. The United States Internal Revenue Agency also practices cryptocurrency confiscations crypto from tax evaders, according to IRS deputy associate chief counsel Robert Wearing.
Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield has resigned from the Labour Party.
The 53-year-old MP is the first to jump ship since the general election and in her resignation letter criticised the prime minister for accepting thousands of pounds worth of gifts.
She told Sir Keir Starmer the reason for leaving now is “the programme of policies you seem determined to stick to”, despite their unpopularity with the electorate and MPs.
In her letter she accused the prime minister and his top team of “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice” which are “off the scale”.
“I’m so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party,” she said.
Since December 2019, the prime minister received £107,145 in gifts, benefits, and hospitality – a specific category in parliament’s register of MPs’ interests.
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Ms Duffield, who has previously clashed with the prime minister on gender issues, attacked the government for pursuing “cruel and unnecessary” policies as she resigned the Labour whip.
She criticised the decision to keep the two-child benefit cap and means-test the winter fuel payment, and accused the prime minister of “hypocrisy” over his acceptance of free gifts from donors.
“Since the change of government in July, the revelations of hypocrisy have been staggering and increasingly outrageous,” she said.
“I cannot put into words how angry I and my colleagues are at your total lack of understanding about how you have made us all appear.”
Ms Duffield also mentioned the recent “treatment of Diane Abbott”, who said she thought she had been barred from standing by Labour ahead of the general election, before Sir Keir said she would be allowed to defend her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat for the party.
Her relationship with the Labour leadership has long been strained and her decision to quit the party comes after seven other Labour MPs were suspended for rebelling by voting for a motion calling for the two-child benefit cap to be abolished.
“Someone with far-above-average wealth choosing to keep the Conservatives’ two-child limit to benefit payments which entrenches children in poverty, while inexplicably accepting expensive personal gifts of designer suits and glasses costing more than most of those people can grasp – this is entirely undeserving of holding the title of Labour prime minister,” she said.
Ms Duffield said she will continue to represent her constituents as an independent MP, “guided by my core Labour values”.