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Korea’s National Tax Service (NTF) has opened bidding for crypto transaction-tracking software to investigate suspected tax evasion. The tender was posted on April 15 through the Public Procurement Service.
The tool is meant to help tax officials follow crypto flows linked to suspected hidden assets, unreported gifts or inheritance, and offshore tax avoidance. The push comes as South Korea prepares to tax gains on virtual assets from January 2027.
The System Would Track Wallets and Exchanges
The planned software will monitor crypto transactions in real time and visualize transfers between specific wallet addresses and exchanges. The planned system is expected to use analytics platforms from Chainalysis and TRM Labs.
Tax investigators would use the analysis to decide whether to open probes and what follow-up action to take. If hidden assets are found, officials could seek restrictions on deposits and withdrawals from a taxpayer’s exchange account.
Non-Custodial Wallets Are in Scope
The agency also wants the system to help identify mixer activity, where transactions are blended to make senders and recipients harder to trace. The tool is expected to analyze data covering about 70 million virtual asset records across 45 blockchain layers.
The more sensitive point is non-custodial wallets. The NTS said wallets such as MetaMask and Phantom can be analyzed to some degree because blockchain transactions are public, even if linking a wallet to its owner remains harder than tracking exchange accounts.
Seoul Is Preparing for Crypto Taxation
This is the third time the NTS has pursued a virtual asset analysis solution since 2024. The agency said interest in crypto tax evasion has grown in the National Assembly, with concerns that weak oversight could lead to more tax evasion and hidden asset activity.
South Korea’s crypto tax has already been delayed three times, most recently from 2025 to 2027. The current plan would tax virtual asset gains as other income at a 22% separate rate for individuals earning more than 2.5 million won annually from trading.
The Tool Could Be Live by July
The reports said the NTS plans to select a provider next month, complete construction by June and begin full-scale use in July. That would put the tracing tool in place before the broader crypto tax regime is due to start. For exchanges and crypto users, the tender shows South Korea is building tax enforcement capacity before the 2027 regime begins.
