South Korea’s payroll system When an employee is hired, he/she will receive monthly salary payments that will have taxes deducted from. Employees must pay income/resident taxes from their salary along with mandatory social insurance programs that employees need to be enrolled into immediately upon being hired. Withholding Income & Resident Taxes Plus Benefit Deductions Income/resident […]
Author Archives: koreantaxexpert
There’re 4 major social insurances in Korea for all employees to be enrolled: 1) national pension, 2) national health insurance and long-term care insurance, 3) employment insurance and 4) workers’ compensation insurance. Each year, some of the insurance rates are increased or adjusted. Following rates are applicable for 2023. Item Employee Employer TOTAL RATE Expected […]
Business in Korea | Company types Foreign investments are categorized by type for doing business in Korea. Mostly, foreigners can start Korean business by acquiring new or existing stocks, or by establishing a Korean branch or liaison office in Korea. Governing laws are different for the cases. Foreign Direct Invested (FDI) companies are domestic corporations […]
Can foreigners hire Korean employees remotely? Yes, any foreigners or foreign companies can hire Korean national employees from overseas. Many foreigners or foreign companies I’ve met are worried about the Korean labor environment and hesitate to set up a company in Korea. For certain cases, Koreans can be directly employed by any foreigners and work […]
In South Korea, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) requires an investment by non-Koreans of at least KRW 100 million. Types of FDI include the acquisition of stocks of domestic companies, long-term loans (minimum of five years) from parent companies outside of South Korea, and investments in non-profit corporations in the fields of science & technology. And […]
The Korean VAT Laws specify certain purchases are not deducible (10% VAT not refundable) for the companies. For example, VAT payments on following purchases are not refundable: Books, medical expenses, fuels, parking, car maintenance fees, leisure expense such as golf, etc., luxury item purchases, public transportation expenses, tickets (i.e., movies), beauty shops, etc. References: […]
South Korea has four major social security schemes: 1) national pension; 2) national health insurance & long-term care insurance; 3) employment insurance; and 4) workers’ compensation insurance. The insurance rates are increased or adjusted annually, with those shown below the latest updates from 2022. Item Employee Employer TOTAL RATE Expected Monthly Contribution (TTL) Note Case […]
Sometimes we are asked for financial review services Korea. Unlike audits, financial reviews require much simpler procedures and can take less time than audits. A review includes primarily applying analytical procedures to management’s financial data. You may expect that a CPA review will address if the financial data are free from any material misstatements. Key […]
Korean tax authorities have been raising income tax rates for individual taxpayers in recent years. It is a common practice for high income earners setting up an entity in Korea to reduce taxes. There will be many things to consider before setting up an entity in Korea, but only comparing tax rates, it will be […]
In Korea, companies (whether a stock company and/or a LLC) with certain size or transaction volumes are subject to external audit. External audit can only be performed by public accounting firms in Korea. The scale of business for external audit is fully described in the law of ENFORCEMENT DECREE OF THE ACT ON EXTERNAL AUDIT […]
There’re 4 major social securities in Korea: 1) national pension, 2) national health insurance and long-term care insurance, 3) employment insurance and 4) workers’ compensation insurance. Each year, some of the insurance rates are increased or adjusted. Especially, rates for national health insurance and long-term care insurance are increased every year. During covid-19 season in […]
We see many companies face employment issues especially in relation to international assignment programs. With many years of experience in GMS field, we proudly offer tax strategies and advisory services that can help international assignment program in a cost efficient manner. How we can assist you I. Foreign employees assigned to Korea by foreign companies […]
Last month we took a look at the many different types of audits that Korean tax officials have at their disposal. Just learning to understand the different types of tax audits will help you learn to avoid them, but here we’re going to make sure that you understand exactly how a business or individual […]
Two words that send a jolt of fear into every law-abiding citizen: “Tax Audit.” Over the next month we are going to share a few articles that help you understand what the South Korean tax audits are, how the government determines when they will be implemented, and how to avoid them in the future. […]
Death and taxes. The two things in life you can never avoid. No one enjoys paying their taxes, but Korea’s incredible infrastructure doesn’t build itself, right? The important thing, however, is that you don’t pay more taxes than necessary. Let’s be clear here: this is not tax evasion. That’s when you avoid taxes that you […]