Korean Job Discussion Forums

[HappyD]

PLease, I just got my pay check and the amount of deductions seem to be exuberant!!!!

The deductions were as follows based on a 2.6 mill salary:

Income tax 78,000
Residence tax 7,800
Health 47,870 (They cover 50%)
Pension 108,000

for a total of 240,670. Does that sound right? I've never had such deductions in the past.

Any insight would be appreciated.
Thanks.[/b]

[Grotto]

Income tax 3.5%
Health care 2%
Pension 4.5%
10%
not sure about residence tax?

but it should come out to 260,000 won a month.

Seems like it is on the up and up.

[Confused Canadian]

Seems about right to me. With higher salaries, your deductions increase substantially.

Actually, according to the Korean National Tax Service (http://nts.go.kr/), you're getting off light, assuming you don't have any children. According to their monthly tax calculator (Click on "Tax Guide", and then click "Check my montly withholding tax"), you should be paying 96,960 a month if you're single, 89,460 if you're married, and 63,960 if you're married with a child. (Remember to enter your salary in "thousands", i.e., leave off the last three 0's)

Also, according to the National Pension Corportation (http://www.npc.or.kr/eng/g_index.html), you should be paying about 9% of your salary (click "National Pension Scheme in Korea" and then "Contributions"). Actually, you should pay about 4.5% and your employer pays the other 4.5%. Nine percent of 2.6 million is 234,000 won, half of which is 117,000. Again, you're paying less than you have to, though it doesn't matter if you're eligible to get it all back when you leave Korea.

And though I have a link to the National Health Insurance Corporation (http://www.nhic.or.kr/wbe/wbea/2004/03/31/494,628,0,0,0.html), I can't find any info on monthly contributions (anyone else help us out here?). However, I do know that between 40-50,000 won / month is about average, with your employer paying an equal amount. If you ask around, I'm sure most others will tell you that this is what they pay.

So, does this sound right? Yes, it does.

Hope this helps.

Confused Canadian

[HappyD]

Thank you very much Grotto and Confused Canadian for your replies. I really appreciate it.

[FUBAR]

[lush72]

[Juggertha]

Hey Confused Canadian, I was looking through the Korean tax site you mentioned and noted ...

Pg 53, #4 Tax rates and Credits

There is a table there "explaining" income tax. Is it just me or does it seem lacking? Is this what they really use to figure out our rates? Wheres the 3.5%-5% i've so often heard quoted?

[Confused Canadian]