Korean Job Discussion Forums

Chris2007 · Joined: 20 Mar 2007

Today the head teacher handed me an envelope from the National Tax Service which said I have to file a tax return by June 2nd for last years salary. (I'm assuming all foreign teachers get the same letter). She then proceeded to tell me that my boss has been reporting that I only earn 1,400,000 won per month for a lower tax rate - and that I need to report that amount on my tax return as my monthly salary.
Well, I earn well over 1,400,000 per month since I'm full time. Obviously my boss is trying to cheat the system in some way. I don't want to get her in trouble but more importantly I don't want to get myself in trouble either if there is a possibility of a tax audit later this year. Or if it means I'll owe more tax or not get a refund.

I started researching the National Tax Service website, but I'm wondering if anyone else has run into this problem and what to do? Besides, isn't the hogwon supposed to file it for me?

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

Ya, your hakwon is screwing you over. Sounds like they had you registered as an independent contractor and not as an employee so they could avoid paying benefits and you just payed too much tax.

At 1.4 mil your taxes should have been about 9830 won.

I suspect your boss was deducting more than 10k per month from you.

Get ahold of the taxpayer advocate service ( http://www.nts.go.kr/eng/help/help_21.asp?top_code=H001&sub_code=HS02&ssub_code=HSB1 )and come clean. It won't hurt you much (especially if your boss was already taking 3.3% or more for taxes).

On a salary of 2.3 mil you should only be paying 44290 in tax.

Chris2007 · Joined: 20 Mar 2007

Thanks for your reply. You mentioned maybe my boss didn't want to pay benefits...I know I have the health insurance so thats okay. But I've been paying for pension as well - does this mean maybe she hasn't been contributing to the pension since she may have reported me as an indpendent contractor?? I'll try to find out what pension office I have to call to double check as well.

I don't really care if she's been trying to milk the Korean government but the fact that she's putting me in the middle of it pisses me off. If she files the taxes for me, as I think they're supposed to do, what does that mean for me? I don't want to rat on her but I will if I have to.

discostar23 · Joined: 22 Feb 2004 Location: getting the hell out of dodge

hi chris

i'm sorta in similar situation as u. i also received the tax package n gave it to my office.

i was working for a company but since they were not liecensed i got my visa under another company. The other company made an agreement with my company to pay most of my salary and then my company would pay the rest. Well turns out my company went bankrupt in the last month and although i had been paying taxes the company never filed them. So I got stuck paying them all over again...booo

Lekker · Joined: 09 Feb 2008 Location: Seoul

Yes, you are getting screwed out of a lot of money.

Jump over your head teacher. Jump over your boss. Go to the NPS office, ask them to show you personally on the computer screen what your boss has reported your monthly salary as, then ask them to show you what has been going in, I'll bet he is taking out 4.5 % of your income, then telling the NPS that you make 1.4 per month and saying that the 4.5% of 2.3 is a total dual contribution of 4.5% on your and her behalf. The sneaky bitch thinks she can outsmart you. Ask them to provide you with a printout. Take the printout to your boss and ask her what the hell is going on, in a polite manner, with nobody else around her. Koreans don't like confrontation, especially with foreigners regarding money, especially when they know they are in the wrong. You need to have backup ammo and this is backup ammo.

Go to the NPS office with your contract. Show them where it says that you are to be earning 2.3 per month, thus proving to them that your boss is a lying piece of shit who is lying to the Government. Then tell them that you are unhappy. Ask them to take care of it, that you are not satisfied with your situation. See what happens.

My boss at my old hagwon was pulling the EXACT same stunt. When I showed him the printout the NPS gave me, he actually fired me for going over his head. He gave me ten minuted to get out of his apartment or else the police would be coming to arrest me. SO I went back to the NPS office and told them he fired me and they came down on his ass like a ton of bricks. It was priceless. He apologized like the Germans after World War 2.

He had to backpay into my pension account for every month he lied to the Government regarding my pay. He was also fined quite a hefty sum for money laundering. I didn't have to pay a cent. F your head teacher and F your WonJongNim. Please don't let her get away with screwing you out of your pension as well as money laundering, Lying to the government so that she can ease her tax burden, etc....

Trust me, you say you don't want to get her in trouble. Honestly, she could care less about you. She is not your friend, she is your boss and she is Fucking around with your salary. You shoulldn't even think about not wanting her to get into trouble. If she is pulling this on you, she is pulling it on everyone who works for her. Teach the bitch a lesson by reporting her ass. Trust me, there is nothing she can do to you. Report her ass, ask for a letter of release, find a better job, and enjoy yourself. You don't need to put up with this nonsense. Nobody here does. For some reason, many people here, who aren't Korean, know their boss is up to no good, yet they choose to stay with him/her. I was in the same exact boat as you. She is your boss. She is not your friend. It's time for you to put your money where your mouth is.

depth · Joined: 01 Feb 2008

Lekker · Joined: 09 Feb 2008 Location: Seoul

I went through the exact same thing not even three months ago. This guy is being used and abused at the same time. Teach the bitch a lesson.

As my friend from New Zealand told me when I was going through the exact same kind of situation, make the c u n t squirm. Teach her a lesson. Don't think twice. She hasn't thought twice when she lied about your salary to the government. Why should you have any reservations whatsoever in reporting her? It's quick, easy, and painless on your part, and you WILL get what she owes you.

It will be long, hard, and painful for her, but she deserves it, as do all hagwon owners who pull this shit.

xtchr · Joined: 23 Nov 2004

Completely agree with Lekker.

Sort it out as soon as possible, because it will only get worse otherwise. If she's cheating you on this, she'll have no qualms about cheating you out of your severance pay, or airfare home.

You are not 'ratting' her out, she is the rat, and a greedy one at that, and any trouble she gets in is entirely of her own making, i.e. do not feel guilty for a situation you did nothing to create.

depth · Joined: 01 Feb 2008

when you get this sorted, find a way to put her in the exact same type of situation and phuck with her head.

take a s h i t at home then put in in a bag. go visit her and apologize for all the problems that occurred between the two of you. then say, where i come from it is customary to eat the s h i t of the other person as a gesture of making up with each other.

when she refuses, RAISE HELL with her!!! how dare she reject your offering of your s h i t for her to eat.

there, now you have screwed her over + plus phucked with her head when she tried to stand up for herself.

now you are even, you have delivered a personal karma message, instead of waiting for the universe to do it to her for you at some later stage, you have stuck a dagger in her heart and added a feather in your cap.

Chris2007 · Joined: 20 Mar 2007

A big thanks for the responses!!! You guys tell it like it is!!

To clarify, last year I was making 2.1, this year 2.4. If she's asking me to report only 1.4 on my tax return for last years salary then there really isn't any way she's been paying my pension because you essentially have to be fulltime. Is that correct? If I'm wrong please tell me but if its true then she must have been pocketing the 100,000 Won she's been deducting from my pay each month.
Also, is it possible that she hasn't reported any numbers to the government yet and she wants to see if I'll go along with it first?? Sorry to sound naive, I'm just trying to get my mind around all this. And I can't ask her directly because she doesn't speak English (big shock I know) so I have to go through the head teacher.

Big4Jerm3 · Joined: 17 Feb 2008

Chris2007 · Joined: 20 Mar 2007

Again, thanks for all the replies. This whole thing just sucks because it doesn't sound plausible for me to get my boss to fix this since most likely she's been reporting 1.4 as my salary all along in regards to taxes. And as for the pension, it probably means she's been sending in only my portion but claiming half is from me and half from her.
I just have a few more questions:

1. In regards to the taxes, do you think there is any chance she can get this sorted out herself without me getting the tax office involved? I'd prefer it so I can quit the job drama free once I have a new job/housing lined up. Besides, I don't want to get in trouble by sending in a tax return that lies about how much I've been earning.

2. In regards to the pension, can I go to ANY pension office to get a print out of how much the contributions to the pension have been? I don't know how I'll do this though since I work during regular business hours. Maybe I can call to get the figure?
Thanks everyone! I hope I can get this settled.

garykasparov · Joined: 27 May 2007

Record every conversation the two of you have from here on out.

cruisemonkey · Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 2:51 pm Post subject:

curyybunny · Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Location: South Korea

Hi Chris,

My hogwon deducts 100 000 won from my salary and I earn 1.9 million per month.
Other teachers have told me that it would be a bad idea to ask them about the tax deduction as the last guy who did was fired.