South Korea tax chief says some hard forks, airdrops may be taxable

South Korea’s National Tax Service said hard forks and airdrops involving virtual assets could be subject to tax if their economic substance amounts to a transfer or a loan. According to Digital Asset, National Tax Service Commissioner Lim Kwang-hyun told a parliamentary audit at the government complex in Sejong on Oct. 13 that such cases should be treated as taxable when they have the characteristics of a transfer or lending. Asked whether taxation standards had been established for staking, airdrops, hard forks, DeFi deposit rewards, and liquidity provision, Lim said economic substance matters more than transaction type or name, adding that the issue comes down to whether a transaction is classified as a transfer or a loan.