Korean Job Discussion Forums

wylies99 · Joined: 13 May 2006 Location: I'm one cool cat!

A friend of mine has a question, and I'm sure some others have the same question. Are all public school teachers exempt from paying income tax in Korea? Or are only teachers from some select school districts (GEPIK, EPIK, EPIG, SMOE) offered this benefit?
Does it apply to all PS teachers from certain countries?

TIA

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

Kikomom · Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 3:18 pm Post subject:

Would this be why they are requesting Residency Certificates, which can only be obtained for US teachers from the IRS?

Will the PS teachers who didn't get the IRS certificate still get the exemption?

MollyBloom · Joined: 21 Jul 2006 Location: James Joyce's pants

Can I print up the form from the US IRS website, or is this something that needed to be taken while in the states? What is the form #?

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

wylies99 · Joined: 13 May 2006 Location: I'm one cool cat!

Is there a link to a Korean government website that contains this information?

garykasparov · Joined: 27 May 2007

jadarite · Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 1:28 am Post subject:

Who do you send this to? I want to make sure my application goes to the right source.

jangsalgida · Joined: 11 Jan 2006

Up to a certain amount of money(what is it, 75 grand?) all Americans are exempt each year no matter where you work. However, there may be another type of Korean tax which we are not exempt from after 2 years. It's not much( I think it is some type of Korean local/city tax can be avoided during the first 2 years?) so need not worry much.

If an American wants to avoid the local Korean tax they need to prove something, check other threads.

Norith · Joined: 02 Nov 2007

hangsalgida is right, there are two different types of tax that you have to consider....

local tax and the tax you pay to your home country (maybe any country in which you have citizenship? Not sure for dual-citizens)

Can't help out non-americans, but
Korean tax is exempt for U.S. public school teachers for your first two years in Korea (my understanding is that if you work in a hogwon for the first two years you are in Korea, you are no longer eligible for the tax-exempt status)

For your U.S. income taxes, you are exempt up to 75k, for money made in Korea....if, and only if, you spent some 300 days outside of the U.S. in the tax year ( I'm pretty sure its 300, though I could use some confirmation here)...

jadarite · Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 4:49 pm Post subject:

I am getting closer to the necessary info, but now I am finding more forms might be needed.

Form 8802 is used to get form 6166, correct? So, we all need to fill out 6166 and send it back after receiving it from IRS?

Individuals With Residency Outside the United States

I am assuming we have some form of residency by virtue of living in Korea for a year, or does this not apply to E2 visa holders?

If 8802 is all we need, and possibly the 6166 form, the address to send it to after paying online is:

Internal Revenue Service
11601 Roosevelt Blvd.
Drop Point N322
Philadelphia, PA 19154

Any clarification would be appreciated if I am mistaken.

jadarite · Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 3:50 pm Post subject:

I am going to proceed as if I don't have residency in Korea, but just America. So, I went and made a payment and an electronic payment confirmation number is supposed to be entered before 1 in the 8802 form. I got a page after which confirmed payment, but nothing indicated an electronic payment confirmation number. However, there is listed a "Pay.gov Tracking ID" and "Agency Tracking ID".

If there is a match, I assume the "Agency Tracking ID" is the electronic payment confirmation number.

Is this correct?

Dances With Wolves · Joined: 06 May 2008 Location: A galaxy far, far away!

I am from the US and did not fill out the form everyone speaks of, and I do not pay taxes.

Tobias · Joined: 02 Jun 2008

I didn't pay taxes either when I first got here. Then my school replaced its HR person with a new face, and suddenly I'm paying taxes, albeit I'm in my first two years. Well, I'm having them deducted, I should say.

If one has not provided a proof of residency to his employer, he will have taxes deducted no matter which year he's in...tenth...fifth....first. No matter, as one must first provide the residency proof before he is exempt from tax deductions. I've had deductions made from my FIRST year here, as I've not yet provided the proof. Anyone who's here in his first two years, hasn't provided the proof, works at a public school, and is not having taxes deducted can count himself lucky. He's probably running on borrowed time, actually.

Now, the big question is: "If I don't provide my employer with my proof of USA residency, I'm in my first two years, and I'm genuinely from the USA, will I EVER see the tax money I've paid these first two years? Will I get a refund somewhere down the line?" If not, that will be pretty damn expensive piece of paper, that little proof-of-residency thing. It'll rank up there with a new E-2 I may have to fly back to the US to get. Talk about some expensive pulp. How does one get a 'proof of USA residency' anyway? One would think if he has gotten a job here, has a US passport, has had documents mailed to his home in the USA from his Korean employer, that would be proof enough. But that would also be logical.

jadarite · Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:59 am Post subject:

I think this is the base procedure:

1. Fill out Form 8802 as soon as possible
2. Receive Form 6616 (then fill it out and send back to IRS? I am still waiting for this step)
3. Fill out Form 1040 or maybe 1040EZ at tax time (I looked at the first one, and it mentions attaching a W2 form). The reason why you may not be able to use the EZ form is that if you have to "itemize" things, you can't use it. I don't know if step 4 indicates this or not.
4. Fill out form 2555 (Foreign Earned Income) also at tax time and attach it to your 1040