"I received an airdrop, but will I have to pay taxes next year?"... How to calculate in advance with a coin calculator

Employee A (34) has been engaging in so-called "point farming" across various exchanges and protocols since last year. Points accumulate when transactions or specific activities are performed, and if tokens are issued in the future, airdrops are received based on these points. After months of spending fees and gas costs to accumulate points, A has two main questions: how much are the points currently worth, and will taxes need to be paid upon receiving the tokens?

Starting January 1, 2027, income generated from the transfer or lending of virtual assets will be subject to taxation. With just over four months remaining until implementation, it is increasingly necessary to review held assets and trading profits and losses. According to the National Tax Service, income from the transfer or lending of virtual assets will be calculated annually, with a deduction of 2.5 million won and a 20% income tax rate applied. Including local income tax, the effective tax rate is 22%.

We applied A's situation to the free "coin calculator" operated by TokenPost (calculator.tokenpost.kr).

Calculating the value of accumulated points

A has accumulated 1,500 points in one project, while the total points displayed on the leaderboard are 200 million. The participant distribution ratio announced by the project is 20%, and the total amount spent on fees and gas costs is approximately 580,000 won.

By entering these four pieces of information into the airdrop calculator, the expected receipt amount based on various Fully Diluted Valuation (FDV) assumptions is generated. FDV is the total market capitalization assuming that all tokens have been issued. For projects that have not yet been issued, the market price is not determined, so the calculator presents multiple results across different FDV ranges instead of a single expected value.

A more direct indicator for A is the "break-even FDV." By entering the costs incurred so far, it calculates how high the FDV needs to rise for A to recover those costs. If the actual FDV is lower than this, it means the value of the airdrop does not meet the input costs.

There is no need to input the total token issuance or the number of tokens to be received. The calculation structure offsets these two values, so users only need to input their points, total points, distribution ratio, and input costs.

Distinguishing between what is received and sold

During the point accumulation phase, no tokens have been received or disposed of yet. The airdrop calculator only estimates the value of the points and does not handle tax amounts.

The taxable income will be generated from the transfer, exchange, or lending of virtual assets after January 1, 2027. The National Tax Service includes not only sales but also exchange transactions in the calculation of income.

If A actually trades coins after the tax implementation, they can use the virtual asset tax calculator to calculate annual profits and expected tax amounts. At this time, any coins that resulted in losses must also be entered. Since the annual profits and losses are aggregated for calculation, only entering profitable transactions will result in an expected tax amount that is significantly higher than the actual amount.

If A is curious about the actual profits and losses including fees, they can also use the yield calculator. Each buy and sell incurs fees, so the actual breakeven price will be higher than the simple purchase price.

If trading records are scattered across multiple wallets, they can retrieve on-chain records of Ethereum, Base, and Arbitrum using wallet addresses. However, on-chain records alone cannot distinguish actual trading activity. Transfers to other wallets, sending to exchanges, and receiving via airdrops are all recorded as token movements on the blockchain. This feature is for confirming the quantities exchanged, and actual buy and sell amounts must be entered manually.

Long-held coins may yield different results

Under current regulations, virtual assets held before January 1, 2027, will have their acquisition cost recognized as the greater of the actual acquisition cost or the market price on December 31, 2026.

However, since that date has not yet passed, the relevant market price does not exist, and the calculator cannot reflect this in advance. Therefore, assets purchased at lower prices in the past and held for a long time may show an expected tax amount that is higher than the actual tax amount.

The classification of income from tokens received via airdrops also requires individual judgment based on circumstances. This is why the airdrop calculator does not have a separate tax calculation function.

Next is the DCA calculator..."What if I invested in installments?"

A DCA (Dollar-Cost Averaging) calculator is also set to be added to the coin calculator. This method involves investing a fixed amount at regular intervals, characterized by not directly choosing the timing of purchases but spreading them out.

The purpose differs from the existing average price calculator. While the average price calculator is a tool for calculating the average purchase price based on already purchased records, the DCA calculator calculates what results would have emerged if investments had been made at regular intervals based on actual past prices. Unlike the "What if I bought then" calculator that deals with a single point in time, it reflects multiple purchase points simultaneously.

By investing the same amount repeatedly, more quantity is bought when prices are low and less when prices are high. Therefore, the final average purchase price is calculated as the total investment amount divided by the total quantity, rather than a simple average of the prices on each purchase date. It will also be structured to allow users to check when, how much, and how many were purchased in each round.

It will also compare with the scenario where the entire amount was invested at the first point. In a continuously rising market, the performance of lump-sum investments may be better, while in a market that has recovered after a decline, the results of dollar-cost averaging may appear relatively favorable. Instead of concluding that a specific method is superior, it compares results numerically over different periods.

Users can express interest in the "upcoming calculators" at the bottom of the calculator, and those with high demand will be developed sequentially.

This content is provided for general informational purposes only and doesn't constitute financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. Any events, rewards, online promotions, or related information mentioned herein should not be considered a recommendation, solicitation, or invitation to purchase, sell, trade, or otherwise deal in any crypto assets. Crypto assets are highly volatile and may result in loss. The availability of WEEX services, products, and related events may vary by region. You are responsible for ensuring that your participation is in accordance with applicable local laws and regulations.