Korean Job Discussion Forums

[khyber]

I was working at a hagwon. Fine...nothign to special.
They pulled some sheety sheet at the end but I thought that was it.
Turns out now I have a strong suspicion that "they" were skimming my taxes.
It ain't easy. They CLAIM they have an accountant (well, they must have been doing better than I thought if THAT were the case). I have never seen him and on payday it was the WJN who was counting out the money.
Anyways, worked there 3 years, paid taxes. Found out that the tax office doesn't have me on record.
A quick question:
If you go to the tax office and ask for the "reciept" or paperwork proving you paid taxes, will that only be for the PAST year or so long as you have worked in korea.

Anyways, now my school wants to phone the tax office and "straighten out this mess".
All I want are those tax reciepts. If i can't get them, then either
1) I take THEM to the labor board
But I have a feeling they are going to claim that the accountant took the money in which case.
2) I would have to threaten legal action against the accountant and/or the school.
In the end, I think I may be tempted to just toss eggs at the principals office on a cold winters night.

What do y'all think i can/.should do?

[cubanlord]

Do you have your paystubs showing you were paying taxes every month? If you do, then show this to the labor board. Your hoggie should get into a lot of trouble for this. You may even be able to press charges (doubt anything would ever pan out from pressing charges...but who knows...).

[Hotpants]

If there's some dodgy tax deal going on...

Don't rely on the school to contact the tax office for you. Get a Korean friend not connected to the school who can contact the tax office on your behalf. You should get to the bottom of this asap.

Don't throw any eggs.

[khyber]

I have gone to the tax office myself with a korean friend on the phone.
Do you think its necessary to bring a K friend right in?

Also, nix on the pay stubbs.
I shoulda been more sensible with that. I think i may just have to resort to really getting angry in a meeting and cursing her for calling me her son while lying to me.

[prairieboy]

Chances are you won't see the tax money but there is something you can do about it.

I am in a similar situation with a former employer. He took taxes off my pay and I got paystubs. I went to the tax office to file a return and was told they had no record of me paying taxes or of my school paying them for me. This was well after I had finished working for the school and wanted to get my taxes in order in case CCRA wanted some official documentation.

I complained to the tax office and said I wanted to file a complaint against my former employer. The local tax office didn't want to do anything, lazy country bumpkins basically.

I got my paystubs together and with the help of my then girlfriend (now wife) we filed a complaint with the National Tax Services on-line. Apparently, if you file an on-line complaint then NTS is obligated to investigate.

Cut to the chase...the NTS has found that my former employer should have been paying taxes (not just mine but for other teachers as well). For my tax obligation (700,000 in taxes withheld) he has been fined 2.6million with penalties. The entire process from filing to ruling was about 6 months.

I know I overpaid my taxes and I will not likely see any of that but it is very satisfying knowing that he's been caught!

Cheers

[jacl]

If you overpaid too much, it's a big deal. If your boss is taxing you correctly, but is not forwarding the money, it's his problem.

I can't believe the tax office would ignore you. These types of situations are what they live for. If you file a complaint personally, I don't see how that's considered less official then filing a complaint online.

Anyway, I think I overpaid a good 400,000 Won last year, but re-signed and got my boss to tax me correctly. Also got some "flight money" even though my contract stated that I wouldn't get the flight home unitl after my I finally decide to leave if I re-signed.

There are some battles worth fighting. I have the tax thing in the back of my mind. It can be used as a weapon if you ever need to win a battle.

[jacl]

[Grotto]

ALWAYS INSIST ON PAYSTUBS PEOPLE!