Korean Job Discussion Forums

[patongpanda]

I'm at a public school.
The tax office want an additional 1,300,000 Won!
This is the first time I've had this after 4 years in public schools.

Why is it so much? I have dependents but they are not resident in Korea, can I claim deductions for them?
Why does credit card spending count as a deductable? (I don't have a credit card).

http://www.nts.go.kr/eng/korean/korean_04.asp?top_code=K001&sub_code=KS04&ssub_code=KSC4



It's my last pay check this month, then I'm leaving, I can't afford to lose 1.3 million Won.

[bobbybigfoot]

I keep hearing stories of people getting "tax bills". I really hope this isn't a new policy but just some error that will soon be resolved.

Could it be the government now realizes there's a flood of applicants and it feels it has the upper hand and now is swooping in to take its cut?

[patongpanda]

It seems my school didn't withhold any tax this year. I didn't notice 'cos I've never had pay slips. So I guess the amount is reasonable, it's just a shock to have to pay it all at once without any warning.

There's all kinds of deductions you can make though, are people making use of this?

[jrwhite82]

I'm not sure about your dependants situation.

Do you have any large medical bills? Those can be good write-offs.

Unfortantely, your pretty much SOL on this one. You have to pay your taxes. You should have checked/noticed and your school also should have told you/paid in the first place. You basically saved an extra 1.3mil over the year that didn't belong to you, so if you look at it that way you're breaking even. Sorry for the bad news.

[patongpanda]

This is madness.
If I'd know about this thing, I could utilized all the deductions and saved a load. Cash receipt cards? This should be in the stickies!

I might be doing something wrong but the calculator tells me I could have had a fat refund rather than a bill!

[lifeinkorea]

1. Why are you shocked?

2. You didn't get payslips, yet you did get money deposited into your account. You knew very well how much you were hoping to get away with.

This is like a kid in the cookie jar surprised mom and dad can see their chocolatey hands and lips.

[nukeday]

oh please...and he's supposed to sort out from his net pay how much was deducted for health, pension, and income tax. the latter is, or maybe was from all the stories this year, the lowest of the three and always has been for years for me.

[Kurtz]

[Big Mac]

This is why you should always insist on getting pay slips. Administration chiefs at public schools are extremely lazy and will try to get away with doing the least amount of work possible.

[patongpanda]

[Zach with a Z]

I have the same shocker. 1.5 million owed.

I guess I shouldn't have assumed that this year wouldn't be the same as last year. And I guess I should have assumed the accounting office doesn't actually do anything.

My bad.

kid in a cookie jar....

[patongpanda]

Late breaking news... the admin lady has magicked it down to 350,000[1]
I must admit I had been harbouring ill thoughts about her

Still, my fiddling with the tax calculator gets me down to 0 fairly easily, and if I had receipts for everything I'd be getting a refund.

She showed me the real tax forms, and it's a 3 page monster. I got her some oranges for her efforts and to spur her on.

If Korean teachers call this the "13th monthly paycheck" that implies they are receiving money, like my co-teacher (has medical bills).

[1]Still a bit worried, not entirely confident her interpretation of my deductables will be accepted. Won't know for sure until pay day. I'm going to extend my visa and stay a few days past my end date.

[nathanrutledge]

Taxes should equal between 2-3% of your income, unless you're making serious money (which, if you're on this board, you aren't).

The rules have changed to INCLUDE ALL compensation - paycheck, housing, airfare; it's all taxable.

The OLD system said that foreigners could be taxed at regular rates on 70% of their income OR take a flat 15% tax rate. This was designed to attract foreign labor, cheap and expensive. Well, NOW they've done away with the 30% tax free income, and the only options are 1) pay regular Korean tax or 2) pay a flat 15%.

A lot of schools/districts/office workers THINK that means you HAVE to pay the 15%. Obviously, the only people who want to pay 15% are the doctors/lawyers/engineers/etc who are obligated to pay a rate that is in the 30-40% range.

Let's assume that you're making 2.5 a month, that equals out to 30 over the year. Housing at 400 a month, plus airfare, and your total for the year is about 36 million. You should be paying about 750k in taxes, assuming the rate is 3% (I'm not sure of the actual rates/income levels/whether medical, pension is taxed, but it's between 2-3%).

Of course, if you came in the middle of the tax year, then you only pay on PART of the income, and you can claim lots of deductions IF you keep records. But definitely, you should not be paying over a million.

[Slowmotion]

I don't understand this system. The more I use my check card the less I get taxed? I have to pay back taxes because I didn't use my check card enough

Can we get those cards for cash purchases like Korean people?

What about money like paying rent and bills that are wired?

[patongpanda]

(Replying to message that's disappeared).
I've got dependents.

All I can suggest is going through the list of deductables and then checking that your admin has put everything they should on there. I'm trying to do this but it's not easy getting a straight answer on anything. I think admin would prefer to do the least amount of work - and this gets way complicated.

Are they using progressive or flat tax?
How much is your pre-paid tax?
Pension premiums are deductable.
Medical insurance premiums are deductable.
Are you married?
Do you have dependents?
Spend money on education?
Do you spend 25% of your salary using credit cards?
Got any medical bills?

NTS Hotline number: 1588-0560