Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mack the knife]

I read recently that university teachers do not have to pay tax. true or false?

[Boogie]

false... in fact we have more deductions in total... however we do get pension which makes up for it in the end.

[weatherman]

I pay taxes at my university. There is an income tax and a residence tax according to the form they give me. The amount is small and never have thought much about it. Though I will say this, I have never herd about the amount of taxes being paid, as standardized, which I think it would have to be, for there is a law, but this is Korea and different places understand the law differently.

[Canadian Teacher]

If you are American, you have a two year tax exemption. All other nationalities pay. The amount depends on your marital/child status. I am married and have two kids so my tax is very small, only about 1.5% of my salary.

The local tax is almost nothing. Heatlh is W42,000. Pension is the big one, 4.5% of your pay (and the same from the employer) but you can get it returned to you when you leave Korea for good and they will check that you leave for good.

My total deductions are 7%. See why I am not in Canada?

Canadian Teacher

[Pilcrshr]

[skeeter]

Americans are exempt from KOREAN INCOME TAX for the first two years.

[Pilcrshr]

Woops!

[mack the knife]

so, from what i understand, americans don't pay taxes the first 2 years if teaching at a university? i am married to a korean national, no kids, yet!

i know about the u.s. earned income exclusion....filed that form many a times....

[Derrek]

So here's my question...

I'm American, and if I stay here in Korea and continue working for more than 2 years, at what point will I start to pay taxes back home? After 2 years? At what percent?

Thanks!

[mack the knife]

you don't have to pay american income tax if you earn less than $70,000 while overseas...foreign income exclusion...you file a different form than you normally would. it's called the "blah blah blah-EZ" i forget the numbers preceding the EZ...you can look it up on line easily enough.

i think the "2 years" post was made with regards to korean income tax...but we're not clear on that yet!!

[Derrek]

So Mack,

Is that a TOTAL of all money made over the years, or just per year?

Thanks.

[mack the knife]

per year

[gajackson1]

2555EZ is the other form that has to be submitted.

Also, the exclusion is US$ 80k - the only reason I know these is because I helped someone file yesterday.

G.

FYI - The forms can be found/looked at/d-led from the IRS directly. The Embassy/consulate site has a link at their page, too. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to see/print them properly, but you can view it as html through Google.

[rasta man]

yeah the exclusion from Korean taxes is only for 2 years but last time I looked the total taken out for me is about 40,000 won/month or about the same as my health insurance

BTW for the hogwon teachers out there, this exclusion from Korean taxes doesn't apply to you. The only "hogwon" teachers who can get out of this are those of you in a univ hogwon ie a FLEC on campus SLP's don't cut it since you do not work for Sogang Univ.

BTW can you file online yet using 2555? I've always had to fill out the paperwork and send it to the IRS in Philly

[Canadian Teacher]

Pilcrshr, when I stated that Americans are exempt from paying tax at Korean universities, I was taking in for granted no waygook makes anywhere NEAR $70,000 a year in a Korean university. Heck, the president of mine does not make that much.

However, Korean profs and administrators do have, ahem, extra scources of income....

Canadian Teacher