- The city revealed that 157 residents were not able to pay a range of vehicle insurance and inspection delay fines.
- The city also argued that the decision would help taxpayers realize that there is no way to dodge unpaid fines, thanks to its power to track.
- A spokesperson of Goyang City said that we will carry on to trace and collect taxes from repeat tax defaulters with our collection techniques.
A city in Gyeonggi Province in South Korea, Goyang has captured crypto assets whose worth is estimated at over $228,000 from natives who were not able to pay traffic fines.
As per the local news outlet, Simon IIbo, a satellite of Seoul, publicized it had taken the coins from crypto wallets owned by 157 Goyang residents. The step is an evacuation for local governments and provincial tax offices in South Korea.
Pay fines or sell crypto
In the past few years, the cities and provinces of South Korea have made use of new powers to force domestic crypto companies to deliver crypto wallet data to their residents. At the same time, they have primarily used these powers to retrieve unpaid local tax bills.
In several cases, they have liquidated Bitcoin (BTC) and other tokens of the residents. On the other hand, they have given citizens a final warning. They were alerted stating, “Pay your fines or we will sell your crypto.”
The step taken by Goyang shows that cities are now prepared to go further. They now look ready to use their powers to capture coins from citizens who are not able to pay a range of council-foisted fines.
No way to dodge unpaid fines
The city revealed that 157 residents were not able to pay a range of vehicle insurance and inspection delay fines. Goyang also said that it was countering an increase in activity in the domestic crypto market.
Also, it drew a conclusion that cryptocurrencies could be used as a means of hiding assets by people who default on vehicle fines. Gyeonggi Province demanded that the four largest crypto exchanges turn over customer data on Goyang-based natives.
The province then matched its data with its own list of chronic defaulters. It aimed at Goyang residents with excellent vehicle fines worth KRW 1 million or even more than that. The executives from Goyand said they anticipate the move will aid other crypto-holding citizens having outstanding traffic fines to pay.
The city also argued that the decision would help taxpayers realize that there is no way to dodge unpaid fines, thanks to its power to track and capture virtual assets. A spokesperson of Goyang City said that we will carry on to trace and collect taxes from repeat tax defaulters with our collection techniques.
Also, we will do our best to ensure a system of fair taxation. And, in my belief, honest taxpayers should not be treated unfairly.
