Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Eidetic Mammary]

First time poster here. I have a question about moving to Korea to continue my current job, except working from home (although if you just want to point out my newbie ignorances feel free to do that too.)

My wife and I want to move to Korea to be closer to her side of the family. I am in a very fortunate position where I work for a company that has a lot of external staff and has agreed to let me work from home and in Korea.

What I would like to know is, other than getting the F6-1 visa, what do I need to do to be able to continue doing my job legally? It's just IT stuff (freelance, now that I would no longer technically be employed by the company), however it would be working for a foreign company that has no presence in Korea.

In Australia I would have to become a 'sole trader' i.e. run my own business whose only client is my employer. My understanding in Korea is that starting a business is extremely difficult, even if it's the sort of thing I'm talking about where it isn't even really a business at all. Naturally, if possible I'd like to avoid that rigmarole, especially if it means that I don't need to rent out some office space as a condition of operating the 'business'.

In short: Is there a need to set up a business entity for me to work for while in Korea? Or would it be OK simply to declare my income at the end of the year (as an employee of a company)? Or is there some mysterious Option C?

I've known other people to have similar arrangements where they just do it all very hush hush and pay no tax for years and years, which sounds great in some ways, but I don't believe in not paying my fair share (and I also don't want to spend time in a Korean prison =D).

Thanks to anyone who can help.

[Lazio]

If you really want to pay taxes than you should do so in the country where the money comes from. You should look into the tax law of your country: what is considered foreign income etc. and also the agreements with Korea. Most countries have agreements with each other to avoid double taxation (you pay the proper taxes in country �A� than you don�t need to pay tax on the same income in country �B� or you only need to pay the difference.

[T-J]

[giraffe]

Well actually it depends on what the tax laws are in Australia.

For example I'm canadian and I'm in a similar situation you're talking about.
I dont work for korean companies however I'm a resident of Korea. My clients are from the USA / UK / Europe.. I pay my taxes here in Korea because I'm a resident here and as a resident here I need to claim my international income here. I dont have to pay a dime to canada as long as my income doesn't comes from Canada or a company setup in Canada or a comapny that has somekind of roots in canada . I'm a "non resident" of canada for Tax purposes HOWEVER as a passport holder/citizen of canada It's my obligation to declare my canadian income in Canada even if i dont live there and even if im considered a "non resident for tax purposes".

SO in short.

Any money i make outside of Canada is Taxed here in KOrea. Any money that has any kind of Canadian Roots/coming from a canadian business / If the business is canadian and setup here in korea etc... I pay the taxes to canada even if its just 1$...... ANd this is the exact reason why i avoid Canadian Clients. I just dont want to deal with filing 2 set of taxes... Doesnt matter if i have a business setup here or not but it matters where the money is coming from and what passport you hold =/...

For example IF say i made 70 000$ by the end of the tax years. 20000$ comes from a canadian client and 50000$ comes from other clients setup other countries.. When it comes time to file taxes I would have to file a 20 000$ income tax with Canada and a 50 000$ income tax with Korea....

Better check what the tax laws are for Australia could be similar to Canada... If it is similar It'll mean That you'll have to pay taxes in australia because you hold an australian passport and your income is coming from australian sources.... If australia/korea has a tax agreement you wont have to pay taxes twice.. If you have all your money here and file in australia Just show korean gov that you filed in australia and everything should be fine. If theres no tax agreement between the 2 countries , I really dont know how it works .. perhaps youlll have to pay twice to be legal on every end...=p...

First thing first i would contact the australian gov tax office. You're not the first one to move abroad and attempt this kind of thing. They should be able to give you an answer. I had the same conversation with the Canadian revenue agency 2 years ago to make sure how to handle this...

good luck