Korean Job Discussion Forums

ulsanchris · Joined: 19 Jun 2003 Location: take a wild guess

I've just been working at my middle school for a bit and I noticed on my first pay slip that they didn't deduct income tax. I asked my co-teacher about. She came back to me and said they will deduct taxes in december and again at the end of my contract. She said it would only be about 40,000 won or something. I find this a bit fishy. Is this happening to anyone else? What is the normal procedure?

cruisemonkey · Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 9:16 pm Post subject:

There's probably nothing 'fishy' going on because you are a public employee. It takes time for the school�s financial officer to grind you into the system.

If you suspect something�s amiss check here -
http://www.nts.go.kr/eng/

Horangi Munshin · Joined: 06 Apr 2003 Location: Busan

Yes this happens to me and when I questioned it they said, going on my last tax return I didn't have to pay it, all the kindy, credit card receipts etc canceled out the piddly amount I would have usually paid.

I still pay the proper amount for health insurance obviously. The school has twisted the 30% exemption rule to lower my pension amount.

OculisOrbis · Joined: 17 Jul 2006

The school cant force the 30% reduction on you. You can choose between the 17% flat rate no deduction method or the 30% reduction method. Tell them you will do your own tax return if they wont listen and that you want the full amount for pension deducted because you will choose 17% flat rate - then at tax time, just file with the 30% reduction method. It's Your choice, not theirs.

"A foreigner may choose either non-taxable treatment on 30% of gross wage & salary income(30% Exemption Method) or separate taxation of wage & salary income(including non-taxable wage & salary income) by multiplying such income by 17/100, which is preferential to him/her. In selecting separation taxation(the latter), provisions concerning such exemption, deduction, reduction and tax credit shall not be applicable(17% Flat Rate Method)."

http://www.nts.go.kr/eng/help/help_53.asp?top_code=H001&sub_code=HS05&ssub_code=HSE3

cruisemonkey · Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:10 am Post subject:

OculisOrbis · Joined: 17 Jul 2006

Except that, as you said in another thread, you have a special contract that is directly between you and your school that you wont share the details about so the POE has no say in your case.

Desk warming during school vacation, deducting wages or vacation time for hours spend running errands when you have no classes are a couple other things that might 'make waves' if you bring them up at your school. The loss of overtime hours because they exclude the hours you would normally work during a stat holiday to nullify any extra classes for that week. Certain POE's are taking away the vacation perks, ie Chungnam forcing teachers to pay back wages for time taken outside the country during discretionary time given by the school beyond the two weeks of official vacation. They can make an argument for that, but they can't make any legal argument for the 30% deduction being forced on us against our will.

How many things 'not worth fighting for' need to accumulate before it is worth fighting for?

cruisemonkey · Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 6:39 am Post subject:

The Ks are masters of 'divide and conquer'. The things to which you refer (desk warming etc.) don't concern me because I've covered them in my contract. In K-land, I've seen the great 'unwashed masses' come and go... and I haven't been impressed. I was the SOB who had to go and rescue people who had no business doing what they were doing � like Paul Watson - (and some who did). I'm willing to die for what I believe in... I'm not willing to die for what someone else believes in.

It's fundamentally your choice to decide to sign or not. If someone ever holds a gun against your head to make you do so, I will fight for you. In the mean time� each to his own.