South Korean gaming firm WeMade has received a massive $41 million tax bill from the National Tax Service (NTS) for its past crypto business activities.
According to Yonhap report, the bill comes after an NTS investigation into WeMade’s crypto operations between 2019-2022. The tax agency said WeMade must pay the full amount by February 29th and that the surcharge to equity ratio is 10.05%.
WeMade is a leading advocate for blockchain gaming in South Korea. In 2018, it created a crypto subsidiary called Wemade Tree and launched its own token WEMIX. However, WEMIX was delisted from Korean exchanges last year due to data discrepancies.
Despite the delistings, WEMIX made a comeback in 2023 by relisting on the same exchanges. WeMade also made history by sponsoring a professional women’s golf event and awarding the winner WEMIX tokens instead of fiat currency.
While WeMade said it will not contest the tax bill, the company suggested clearer crypto tax rules would benefit the industry. A WeMade spokesperson stated:
_”We plan to pay the tax bill in good faith. As the [vague] taxation of cryptoassets becomes clearer, stability will increase for businesses.”