My 'exchange' is asking for a tax clearance fee before withdrawal — is this real?

100% scam. No legitimate exchange anywhere in the world requires you to pre-pay taxes to release a withdrawal. Taxes are owed to governments, not exchanges. The 'tax clearance fee' is a universal scam-platform pattern designed to extract one more payment from victims who think they're about to recover their money.

If you pay it, the next request will be 'insurance fee', then 'anti-money-laundering compliance', then 'wallet upgrade'. The pattern continues until you stop paying. Stop now, document everything, file a report, and trace the deposit addresses while the trail is fresh.