Buying shares in a small Korean private company can trigger valuation, tax and reporting obligations. Learn what documents foreign investors should prepare.
Category Archives: Tax in Korea
Master Korean tax deadlines for 2025 with this compliance guide. Learn key filing dates for corporate tax, VAT, payroll, and other obligations to ensure your business stays compliant in Korea.
Foreign-invested companies in Korea must file VAT and corporate tax on time. Even without revenue, compliance is mandatory to avoid fines and forced closure.
Understanding Korean income tax can be challenging for foreign employees and overseas HR teams. Korea applies progressive income tax rates to most employees, while eligible foreign employees may elect a special 19% flat tax rate. Another important feature of the Korean system is the Year-End Tax Settlement, under which the employer recalculates and finalizes an […]
In Korea, the standard VAT rate is 10%. Similar to other countries, Korea exempts certain transactions from VAT. Specifically, when a Korean resident company provides services to a foreign entity, VAT can be exempted under the following conditions. It is crucial for foreign corporations engaged in frequent international transactions to understand these criteria, as it […]
VAT Korea Refund In the global economy, international trade in goods & services have expanded to become essential to daily life. It has become common to make purchases and use popular global apps in South Korea. However, such goods or services from overseas suppliers do not include VAT, which creates an unequal playing field for […]
A tax is imposed on net taxable income in Korea by the district tax office, and cities (or “gu” for large cities). In Korea, a tax payable to the district tax office is called “income” tax (소득세). A tax payable to cities is called “resident” tax (지방세). For most of cases, 10% resident tax will […]
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: […]
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 […]
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 […]
_MINF6920080211223621_7020121217170651_Certificate of Residence If you’re a tax resident in Korea, it may effect on your home country’s tax return. Thus, determination of your tax residency status is critical for your tax filings in Korea. General rules for tax residency test for INDIVIDUALS Resident : taxed on world-wide income In principle, a resident refers to […]
Korea can a challenge if you’re an English speaker looking for a good bookkeeper, but Korean Tax Experts handle all kinds of accounting issues. Here is a summary of the bookkeeping services any reliable accountant will provide for you. Get in touch with us if you’d like to have these services delivered by a proactive […]