South Korea plans to begin taxing income from the transfer or lending of virtual assets on January 1, 2027, applying a 22% levy to annual gains above the 2.5 million won ($1,800) basic deduction. The tax, set as miscellaneous income under the Income Tax Act, combines a 20% miscellaneous income tax with a 2% local income tax. The policy is drawing stronger opposition from younger investors, who argue that moving ahead with crypto taxation after abolishing the financial investment income tax on stocks undermines fairness across asset classes. The debate has intensified because virtual-asset investing is heavily concentrated among younger adults: Financial Intelligence Unit data released in March showed 11.13 million trading-eligible user accounts at the end of last year, with people in their 30s accounting for 26.8% and those in their 20s and younger making up 19.0%, or 45.8% combined. Deputy Prime Minister Koo Yun-cheol said the government will proceed as scheduled for now and review issues such as loss carryforwards, staking (locking crypto to earn rewards), airdrops (token distributions) and overseas exchange income later if needed. Lawmakers and the National Assembly Research Service have warned that unresolved rules could trigger disputes, while tax officials say new cross-border reporting under CARF (Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework) should improve visibility into assets held on overseas exchanges.