Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tyleranthony]

ok

so i've been working at "school" for 11 months. it is exactly 31 days before I depart. I've had 3.3% tax withheld from my paychecks (of varying amounts, month to month), and everything so far has been fine. Paid on time, pay slips the following day, etc. I love my job, my bosses are great, no complaints whatsoever...until now.

However, now, "school" writes me an email stating that they've been improperly withholding taxes...taking advantage of the fact that two concerned government agencies, for a long time, have never shared information. they were able to report me to one agency under one employment status, and to another agency under another status. in turn, this worked out for me because I was taxed at a lower rate 3.3% compared to 8-9%, respectively. They knew that this "loophole" existed all along, and were basically doing this so instructors could keep more of their pay. It has been well intentioned, but...

Now, the two agencies have gotten their sh*t together, and have merged databases. The school is now saying that I am now responsible for the difference (5-6%) between the taxes I have already paid, and the taxes I should have been paying (or they should have been withholding). I don't mind paying an extra 5% monthly, but 5% of yearly income due within a month is totally unreasonable and unfair, IMO.

I'm assuming that regardless of my company's willful negligence, I will be stuck biting the bullet and forking out roughly 1.5-2m won, unless I can convince them to be nice enough to pay for their mistake.

I'm assuming the worst at this point, but I would appreciate any words of advice from people who may have experienced this situation before. Thanks.

[linton]

8 or 9 % tax something is wrong. Do not trust them.

[Ut videam]

Could you be more specific? Which ministries are involved? Is it back income tax they're saying you owe, or back pension contributions?

[some waygug-in]

Sounds like a load of bull to me. Who told you this?

Sounds more like they are trying to scam you out of your final severance and they're using this scam to make you think that it's the tax office that's taking your money.

Tell them you want to talk to the tax office directly and find out what's going on. Dollars to donuts says they'll back off right quick.


Of course, I could be wrong. But I've never heard of anything like this being legit in my 7+ years in the land of K.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

[ED209]

Never heard of anyone paying 8-9% tax. Is this separate from pension and healthcare?

Here is the 'Warm-hearted tax administration' (their words not mine)

http://www.nts.go.kr/eng/

Here's where you can check how much you should pay(remember to enter your wage in thousands, so knock off 3 zeros)

http://www.nts.go.kr/eng/help/help_52.asp

Monthly Wage & Salary Income : ￦ 2,100 (in thousands)
The number of Dependents : 1 persons The number of children under 20 : 0 persons
Monthly Income Tax : ￦ 35,560

You may also want to contact your local tax office. The number can be found on the above website under 'help desk'.

[Dome Vans]

Absolute pile of crap.

Why did they send you an email to tell you this? What a cop out! It's like sending your GF a text message dumping here. They're too chicken to meet you face to face and lie about this.

There is only one deduction for tax, one for health and one for pension. The fact that you like your bosses should not even come into it especially considering the 11th month time scale. There's plenty of stories on here about 'wonderful' bosses turning nasty when there's a few bucks involved.

As some-waygug-in says call their bluff. Take your payslips with the deductions and say you're popping down to the tax office to check this out yourself. Your payslips should be stamped and have the deductions on. You as an employee have worked in good faith that your employer has paid these. Maybe they know that you won't go down for one reason or another.

File at the Labour Board as well, so they have a record of anything that might happen in the next month.

It seems to be almost the same amount that they'd have to pay you for severance.

Call BS on it, work out the rest of the contract as normal being extra nice and not giving them any reason to fire you. Labour Board will know about anything that might happen from now on.

[bassexpander]

Agreed... this is a farce.

There is no way you would accumulate that much in back taxes, and you've been paying! 3.3% is about where most teachers land on the sliding scale.

Sounds like they are trying to find a unique way to screw you out of your legal bonus.

I'd tell them to provide you with paperwork, and that you will be approaching the labor board regardless if they try to deduct this money.

I think they never paid your taxes, and are trying to get you to pay for it.

Labor board. Just dial 1350. Talk Korean.

[tyleranthony]

the "interested parties" are, and I quote from the email I was sent, the Tax Office and the public insurance corporations (health, employment, pension and hazard).

my pension is sound, they're saying that they purposefully misreported my tax status under the "proprietor" structure, meaning that employee is considered "a vendor of services and therefore the company had no other obligation to the employee". Under that structure, the rate was, as we all know 3.3%.

However, they're saying now that I'm technically a "salaried personnel", which establishes a more complex tax structure and a higher rate. I've been told from them that in 2006, this status was changed. However, it was difficult to enforce this new status because they couldn't cross reference their databases. If they reported me as a "proprietor" to the tax office and as a "salaried personnel" to the insurance companies, I would have to pay higher than the 3.3% they've been charging me.

Now, I'm basically quoting and paraphrasing from the email I received, but I agree, this does sound fishy. I've paid into both, have my insurance book and my year-end pension statement to prove this. They're saying that they, for the "benefit of the employee", knowingly withheld monies due to government agencies. They're saying this is a tax issue, however, I'm not sure of the relationship between the tax office and the public insurance office. I can post the email tomorrow when I get to my desk.

Their wording is vague, and I'm still wondering why they would send me an email which is totally self-incriminating.

[ttompatz]

[bassexpander]

Another issue is health insurance.

Did you get a health insurance folder/card from the gov't when you got insurance THIS YEAR? If you haven't been paying into it, you have to back-pay everything from when you came up to the day you join it. Did you suddenly demand your health insurance, only to bring this on?

Could be another thing. Not sure.

[Ut videam]

Ditto what everyone else has said. In addition, the income tax withholding rate and tax liability of a "salaried personnel" is LOWER than that of a "proprietor" (independent contractor), not higher!

[nomad-ish]

it definitely sounds wrong to me. i think the reason why they wrote you that email rather than talking to you is because they were making up such a tangle of lies (in english, no less) that it was easier.

i'd print off a copy of that letter and tell them that you're very confused, pointing at the printed off email, and that you're going to talk to the tax office asap

good luck and let us know how it goes

[skconqueror]

Do you work for a public school or academy?

[tareze]

just tell them to give you all the paperwork and you'll go settle it at the tax office yourself. i've been to the one near gangnam station and they speak enough English to help you out. then you can find out from the horse's mouth. if they balk you know somethings up.

[Netz]