Korean Job Discussion Forums

[aloysha]

Tonight, I received a call at 8:30 pm from my bank (Hanna). A lady asked me to bring in my pay slips so that she could �make sure I�m paying Korean tax�. I was surprised that she called me at this time and the request seemed rather pointless. I responded that perhaps it would be easier to confirm with the tax office directly if I have been paying tax, adding that it is my employer's responsibility to deduct and forward my taxes. She seemed unperturbed by anything I said and insisted, rather sweetly, on seeing my pay slips. Has anyone had a similar experience ?

[Bibbitybop]

Is the Korean banking system in charge of the Korean tax system now? I swear, with the amount of crap the banks are pulling with foreigners......fk 'em.

OP, I'd say go to another branch, but I see you are in Cheongju and that may be difficult for you.

Simply tell the bank "no" and see what happens. Tell them you will show your tax info to the Korean government, not a teller at a bank. Then see what happens. If they piss and moan, simply change banks. Find some other expats in Cheongju (you can ask Jagnathan69, he's in Cheongju) where they bank and if they are happy.

[moosehead]

[yingwenlaoshi]

[tzechuk]

Definitely strange. Don't do it and as another poster said, raise a big stink about it because there are a lot of scams going on right now.

[Atavistic]

That sounds really weird. Have you used a HANA ATM lately? They all have a note about someone calling and pretending to be from such and such agency, though if she's actually asking you to come to the bank...

Something is fishy. Tell them no.

Besides, Americans don't even have to pay Korean income tax if they're working at specific schools due to the tax treaty. What the hell would HANA say about that?

[aloysha]

The whole scenario seems so unprofessional and unorganized. I guess my crayon paper scratch pay slip is enough to convince them. But seriously, I don�t want to make life easier for her. I thought as much Bibbity, and I might change banks if she pushes it farther. So far, Hana has been upstanding with me. I wonder if they make this shite up
on the spot ?

[aloysha]

Thanks for the heads up, from all of you. The funny thing is, when I was at my bank a few weeks ago I made a large transfer of funds from my account to my Canadian account. The lady that helped me was really sweet and cordial and offered me a high interest MMF. She gave me her teller card. The caller gave a name that to the best of my memory, was the same as on the card. The call id # was the same, save for the last four digits. Strange indeed.

[yingwenlaoshi]

Tell your boss and go to the bank and WTF them.

[aloysha]

My boss is not someone I would consider an ally in any circumstance. It is a toss between shopping for some Gucci shoes on the internet or being my confidant in my time of need. Which do you think she will choose
Besides, I can handle it on my own.

[garykasparov]

[aloysha]

[Trevor]

Correct answer.

[diablo3]

I am imagining she asked at that time because she was worried.

Normally, international transfers are monitored to ensure you send less than what you earn to rule out something illegal happening.

If you show your pay slips (which your company needs to supply), then no one has anything to worry about.

Also, your company needs to provide the tax forms (unfortunately I do not have a Korean keyboard to tell you exactly the names of those forms).

[harryh]

A pay slip is no proof that you have paid tax anyway. I could write up a pay slip for you, or anybody could. A hagwon boss could easily do it. They fiddle a lot of other things.