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jacl
Joined: 31 Oct 2005
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 Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 11:37 pm Post subject: Taxes, taxes, taxes |
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Can anyone give me info on how to do my tax return.
When should I do them?
What do I need?
I know that I'll need to fill out a tax sheet and I'll need a tax guide for that, but do I need anything special from my hagwon boss?
I don't think my boss paid taxes, but he deducted them from me. I would like to go about giving him a special going away present. My contract ends the beginning of March and I want to get on the ball with this. I think he was deducting about 45,000 Won/month too much.
If I go down to the tax office and ask how much tax I've paid, will they no doubt contact him? Should I bring this up to him first and get my overpayments back? Hmmm.
I heard something about getting a tax receipt from my boss. Maybe the first thing I should do is ask for that. See what his reaction is to that. |
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Faron
Joined: 13 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 11:41 pm Post subject: |
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| did you check the FAQ? |
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jacl
Joined: 31 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 11:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Faron wrote: |
| did you check the FAQ? |
Yes.
Any useful info out there? |
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Big Mac
Joined: 17 Sep 2005
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| Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 10:15 am Post subject: |
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Whoa...how much tax was being deducted in total? I had 33,000 Won a month taken off of a 2 million Won salary. If you paid 45,000 Won over what you think you should have...that's insane. I think tax is somewhere in the region of 3 per cent of your monthly salary.
From what my director told me (someone correct this information if it's wrong), you don't need to file a tax return in Korea like you do in North America. I guess the onus is on the employer to pay it.
I would definitely try to find an English phone number for the tax office and find out whether your employer has paid the tax. If he hasn't I'm pretty sure they will get on his case. If you find that you overpaid, I would call the labour board's English line to get advice on recovering the overpaid amount. |
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jacl
Joined: 31 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 10:45 am Post subject: |
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| Big Mac wrote: |
Whoa...how much tax was being deducted in total? I had 33,000 Won a month taken off of a 2 million Won salary. If you paid 45,000 Won over what you think you should have...that's insane. I think tax is somewhere in the region of 3 per cent of your monthly salary.
From what my director told me (someone correct this information if it's wrong), you don't need to file a tax return in Korea like you do in North America. I guess the onus is on the employer to pay it.
I would definitely try to find an English phone number for the tax office and find out whether your employer has paid the tax. If he hasn't I'm pretty sure they will get on his case. If you find that you overpaid, I would call the labour board's English line to get advice on recovering the overpaid amount. |
I guess that's the plan. I don't like the idea of him pocketing this. I'm paying 81,400 out of 2.2 million (3.7%). I've mentioned to him a number of times that it's not the right amount and then these people come in and leave and he tells me it's the tax office ( ) and they say that my taxes are actually more. He's not paying them at all. |
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Big Mac
Joined: 17 Sep 2005
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| Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 11:31 am Post subject: |
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| jacl wrote: |
I guess that's the plan. I don't like the idea of him pocketing this. I'm paying 81,400 out of 2.2 million (3.7%). I've mentioned to him a number of times that it's not the right amount and then these people come in and leave and he tells me it's the tax office () and they say that my taxes are actually more. He's not paying them at all. |
It definitely sounds like there is something fishy there. You're paying more than double what I was paying, and you're only making 200,000 Won more than what I was. It doesn't add up.
My understanding is that there is some sort of sliding scale for determining the tax percentage and it's based on what your salary is. I think the fact that you're a foreigner is also part of the equation.
I just figured out mine and my employer was deducting 1.59 per cent for taxes. My deduction was exactly 31,845. It could be that the 200,000 Won extra puts you in a completely different tax bracket than me...but what you're paying is a huge difference.
I looked on the National Tax Service website and it appears that they have a phone number for foreigners. Hopefully there will be someone who actually speaks English there. The number is 82-2-397-1454.
The English number for the Labour board is 1350. They should be able to help you recover any overpayment if there was one. I seem to remember that just dialing 1350 doesn't work though...you may have to type your area code in first. |
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Grotto
Joined: 21 Mar 2004
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Gord
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 1:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Grotto wrote: |
Monthly Income Tax : �� 39,800
(will be deducted from Wage & Salary Income by your employer)
Go get him! |
Go get him with what? You've given half the story.
The second page you linked to is not the total tax liability but what employers are to deduct before requiring consent to deduct more (some people working two jobs, for example, could wish that more tax money be deducted now rather than as a lump sum bill at the end of the year). It is to prevent employers from deciding to send half your salary to the government as a deduction and forcing you to sort it out the following year after filing a tax return, for example.
On a declared salary of 2.2M a month, the total for taxes owed for the year would be 699,720. Or 58,310 per month on average. |
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Grotto
Joined: 21 Mar 2004
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| Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 2:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| what employers are to deduct before requiring consent to deduct more |
Doesnt sound like he gave consent to have more deducted to me.
He has the phone number for the NTS so lets let him sort it out with the people there.
You dont have to muddy the waters with every post you make you know! |
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jacl
Joined: 31 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 6:05 am Post subject: |
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Well, I have to time things right. My contract ends beginning of March. I just found out today that I have a vacation day on Friday and the following Tuesday. Nice to hear it through another teacher and not the boss. How screwed up is that? Anyway, I was planning on taking one of my remaining vacation days to go directly to these offices. So, I guess that's Friday. Hope they're open.
Should I ask him for tax certificates first or just go? I guess if he fires me, I could go to the labor board or something. Maybe I should just go directly to the tax office. You know, I want to get tax forms and the such and that's the place to go.  "What do you mean I haven't paid any taxes?" I have some pay sheets signed by him, but only the first six or seven months. I didn't bother after that. The last one I had for him to sign, he never gave back. He signed the previous one, but I had to go take them from the front desk. Got the stamp on them and everything. It would be nice to get the money back, but, when you think about it, the biggest thing is to pay the taxes legitimately because the ole Government of Canada is going to do some asking when I'm finally back there. Of course, for now, I'd like to get the money I overpaid and the best time is now. Plus, it would be nice to contact the labor board now just to make sure I get my severence pay. Also have to contact the pension office to make sure he and I pay my first 5 months of pension so I get that cash too.   I had enough of him. I made good money this year, but I don't like it anymore. One year's enough. My last pay stands to be at least 2.6 to 3.2. Depends on what BS he has for winter camp next month. Maybe I'll lose all that when the government offices contact him. Plus my severence, my plane ticket cash (I'll get cash), the rest of my vacation days (sounds like 4 days now), my pension and, hopefully my overpaid taxes. Sounds more benefical than staying. Could be 8 to 8.5 million in one chunk. What would you do? |
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IwalkAlone
Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 6:09 am Post subject: |
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Also important, all ESL'ers earn Class A income (defined as wage and salary workers that provide a service).
Class A income allows the tax to be further reduced by 55%. You can deduct up to 500,000 Won if your taxes are over 1 million (which is very rare for an english teacher) |
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jacl
Joined: 31 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 7:52 am Post subject: |
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| IwalkAlone wrote: |
Also important, all ESL'ers earn Class A income (defined as wage and salary workers that provide a service).
Class A income allows the tax to be further reduced by 55%. You can deduct up to 500,000 Won if your taxes are over 1 million (which is very rare for an english teacher) |
So, if I get 81,400 every month and on my severence, it'll be over a million. Hmm. Anyway, might work out to the same thing, but I could get it all (or pretty much the same) back now. My best avenue is contacting the tax office, the pension office to tell them about my first 5 months of non-payment and giving them my contributions, and contacting the labor board. All in one shot. Maybe it'll give me a bad name in the industry. Oh well. |
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Big Mac
Joined: 17 Sep 2005
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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| jacl wrote: |
| IwalkAlone wrote: |
Also important, all ESL'ers earn Class A income (defined as wage and salary workers that provide a service).
Class A income allows the tax to be further reduced by 55%. You can deduct up to 500,000 Won if your taxes are over 1 million (which is very rare for an english teacher) |
So, if I get 81,400 every month and on my severence, it'll be over a million. Hmm. Anyway, might work out to the same thing, but I could get it all (or pretty much the same) back now. My best avenue is contacting the tax office, the pension office to tell them about my first 5 months of non-payment and giving them my contributions, and contacting the labor board. All in one shot. Maybe it'll give me a bad name in the industry. Oh well. |
I wouldn't worry about it giving you a bad name in the industry. You're just looking out for yourself...no good employer would blame you for that.
You seem to be a little worried about covering your tracks to keep Revenue Canada off your back. I was worried about that too, but upon returning to Canada I found out it wasn't an issue. As long as you have applied for non-residency and have received a letter telling you that you are a non-resident, you shouldn't have much to worry about.
If you don't have over $10,000 on your person when you enter Canada, you don't have to claim it. Canada Customs never looked at the stamp the bank put in my passport. When I called to find out how to file my 2005 tax return, they told me to put $0 in all the spaces on the form, since I had no income in Canada for the year. They told me to attach a separate sheet declaring my world income...but they told me I will not be taxed on that. They only use it to determine whether you are eligible for the GST rebate.
So as long as you are a non-resident you shouldn't have any issues. If you haven't filled in the form, just google "NR73" and the form will come up. |
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Tiny_Tibbo
Joined: 21 Apr 2005
Location: In My Skin
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 3:41 pm Post subject: |
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| so is it too late to declare non residency if i've already been here a year?? |
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Big Mac
Joined: 17 Sep 2005
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| Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2006 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Tiny_Tibbo wrote: |
| so is it too late to declare non residency if i've already been here a year?? |
I applied for non-residency when I first got to Korea, so I'm not completely sure. But my understanding is that you can apply for any tax year whenever you want.
It was actually a bit of a hassle for me. When I first applied, Revenue Canada decided I had too many ties to Canada so they said I was a "factual resident" and had to pay tax on all my Korean income.
For me, I had a lot of minor ties like a credit card, bank account, items in storage, driver's licence, insurance policy...stuff like that. So I started cutting ties...I closed my accounts, cancelled my Visa, I gave my items in storage to my parents (they agreed to give it all back later though) then re-applied for non-residency. In the end, I had only 3 ties...my driver's licence, passport (I know, it's stupid they count your passport) and an RRSP. They sent me back a letter about five months later saying I was a non-resident and didn't have to pay tax.
So it's a good idea to get on it as quickly as possible. |
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