Korean Job Discussion Forums

[winaniw]

Has anyone else gotten this letter? I make 2.1 million per month, and my school has always paid 3.3% in taxes automatically. Why do I suddenly owe more?

[TheUrbanMyth]

I'd check with the tax office and find out if the school has been paying the taxes.

[K1020]

I haven't got that letter but I was worried about something like that happening I did a guestamation based on what was deposited into my account vs. deductions and I came up with a matching number including pension and school lunches (not taxes).
The school told me I was the first Canadian they had so I wonder if they have gotten used to the American tax exemption and so not made the proper deductions. I better check on that one . . .

[winaniw]

Apparently, several teachers at my school - Korean and waygook alike, including my Korean boss - have gotten letters saying they owe tax money (some more than 1mil.)

[CrikeyKorea]

This will happen for one, because you may have bonuses or overtime that is paid but no correctly taxed, and two because you haven't linked your bank card with your tax account and/or pay cash without a cash receipt ID.

I usually get a fair bit back, but some friends of mine have racked up some owed tax because of this.

[goreality]

3.3% tax is a myth that is pervasive in the ESL community here. Check out the NTS Korea website they have a tax calculator. You can also go into their office and find out how much of that 3.3% actually went to your taxes for the years you didn't owe extra money and how much you boss just pocketed.

[yodanole]

Just because money was taken from your pay doesn't mean that it was actually applied to whatever purpose that was listed listed as the reason for the deduction...best to check with whichever agency is appropriate.

[Wildbore]

[winaniw]

Wildborn, can you point me toward a resource that would help me file my own tax return?

CrikeyKorea, can you explain what you mean by "haven't linked your bank card with your tax account and/or pay cash without a cash receipt ID"?

My boss showed me the identical letter she got from the tax office, which says she owes 1,000,000, and she says this has never happened to her before either. She's always been very honest; I'd be stunned if she was pocketing my tax money.

[CrikeyKorea]

If you properly register your bank account with your ARC number, and if you pay cash a lot, create a cash receipt ID with the tax service it will automatically log your spendings so that you may be able to get a refund back at the end of the tax year. If you spend x amount of money on studying/medical/ etc, then you may also get some money back on this.

I don't have the details or links on this computer but will post them later if someone else doesn't, I believe that the global centre had a write-up on how to do it in English if you can't do it in Korean.