Korean Job Discussion Forums

[OculisOrbis]

I recently heard about a card you give the cashier when you make a purchase that records the VAT you paid and at the end of the year they send you a statement of what you paid. You can submit this to get a good portion of your taxes back. Anyone know how or where i can obtain this magical card?

apparently you can also give your cellphone number and the phone company does the tally and sends you the statement, but i interested in the card method.

[livinginkunsan]

They used to given up in subway stations and / or department stores. Not sure if they still are. I don't look as I have mine linked to my credit card

[mindmetoo]

If you're paying 3.5% tax as an E2 holder, I would imagine you might not qualify for this rebate.

[mindmetoo]

I've long mused at this rebate. At first I thought it was an attempt to encourage consumer spending, hoping to stave off Japan's problems. The Japanese are big savers and the consumption side suffers. But later I reasoned it was a way to prevent an underground economy. It's hard to hide transactions, even cash transactions, when people are demanding a tax receipt.

[cdninkorea]

I'm on an E2, and I have it. I gave my girlfriend my ARC and she went down to the office for me. A week later I had the blue tax rebate card. My advice is to get a co-worker to enquire or call the NTS English number (call information or Google it).

I had heard it was to encourage people to use cash rather than credit cards (ie people won't spend what they don't have), but the underground economy is equally plausible.

[paulandamy]

It was actually started by the government to create a more transparent economy. Business transactions dealing with cash weren't reported by the seller. This system gives the consumer incentive to report the transaction, so that the business doesn't hide their profits when it comes time to pay taxes.