If you work or earn income in Korea, you need to file taxes every year. Filing can get you a refund on taxes you have already paid, and you may also qualify for deductions on things like medical expenses and credit card spending. There are two main processes: if you have a regular employer, you go through year-end tax settlement (연말정산, yeon-mal-jeong-san); if you have various other sources of income, you file a comprehensive income tax return (종합소득세 신고).

Year-End Tax Settlement

What is year-end tax settlement?

Year-end tax settlement is a process where the taxes withheld from your monthly pay throughout the year are recalculated against your actual annual tax liability. If it turns out you overpaid — after accounting for deductions like medical expenses, education costs, and credit card spending — you receive a refund. If you underpaid, you owe additional tax. Refunds are usually paid together with your salary on the February or March pay date.

Who needs to do this?

  • Foreign nationals who have a registered address in Korea, or who have stayed in Korea for 183 days or more, are classified as tax residents and qualify for the same deductions as Korean nationals. If you have a registered address in Korea, you are treated as a resident regardless of how long you have stayed.
  • Any foreign worker who has earned employment income in Korea must go through year-end tax settlement, regardless of nationality, length of stay, or income level.
  • Daily workers (hired on a day-by-day basis) are excluded.

Flat-rate tax option for foreign workers (19%)

Foreign workers may choose to apply a flat tax rate of 19% instead of the standard progressive rate (this comes to about 20.9% when local income tax is included). This option is available for 20 years from the year you first start working in Korea (previously it was 5 years).

  • You are free to choose whichever rate works out better for you — flat rate or standard rate. Use the year-end tax settlement simplified service to calculate both and then decide.
  • Note that if you choose the flat rate, tax exemptions, reductions, and most income and tax deductions do not apply. If you have many deductions, the standard progressive rate may actually cost you less.

When to apply

  • The Year-End Tax Settlement Simplified Service (연말정산 간소화 서비스) on Hometax opens around January 15 each year, with finalized data available from January 20 (it is recommended to download your data after the 20th to avoid missing anything).
  • You must submit the required documents to your employer by the February pay date.

Exact dates can change each year, so please confirm the latest information with the Immigration Contact Center (1345) or your local Korea Immigration Service (KIS) office before you apply.

Documents you need

The Year-End Tax Settlement Simplified Service on Hometax automatically retrieves most of your deduction data — medical expenses, education costs, credit card spending, and more. You just download or print the results and hand them to your employer. In most cases there is not much else to prepare separately.

However, if your family situation changed during the year — for example, you got married or had a child — you will need to obtain a copy of your resident registration certificate (주민등록등본) and submit it to your employer as well. This is required to claim the personal deduction for dependents.

How to apply: Hometax (online)

Your employer handles the actual year-end settlement calculation, but you need to retrieve and print your deduction data from Hometax (www.hometax.go.kr) and submit it to them.

  1. Go to Hometax and log in using a joint certificate, financial certificate, or a simple authentication method such as Naver, Kakao, or PASS. (The Hometax interface was updated in 2025, so screens and menu names may differ slightly from the steps below — look for a menu related to “year-end tax settlement.”)
  2. On the main screen, click the [Year-End Tax Settlement Simplified Service] icon.
  3. Click [View/Issue Income and Tax Deduction Data (Employee)].
  4. If you joined the company partway through the year or left before the end, select only the months you actually worked.
  5. Review the retrieved data, save it as a PDF or print it, and submit it to your employer.

If you prefer to use your phone, install the Sontax (손택스) app and follow the same steps.

What happens if you miss the deadline?

If you do not file within the deadline, you may be charged a penalty surcharge in June. Please make sure you do not forget.

Help services for foreign nationals

  • Foreign resident tax hotline: 1588-0560 (English available)
  • National Tax Service general tax inquiry: 126 with no area code (weekdays 09:00—18:00)
  • Easy Guide for foreigners in English: available at the NTS English website (eng.nts.go.kr)

Tax-saving tip: credit cards vs. debit cards and cash receipts

  • For spending up to 25% of your annual gross salary, use whichever credit card gives you the best everyday benefits — there is no tax incentive difference in this range.
  • For amounts above 25% of your gross salary, using cash receipts or a debit card gives you a higher deduction rate, which means a larger refund.

Comprehensive Income Tax Return

What is the comprehensive income tax return?

The comprehensive income tax return is a filing where you add up all types of income you received during the year and pay tax on the total. If you have income beyond your employment salary — such as interest, dividends, business income, pension income, or other income — you must file this return. If you overpaid, you can receive a refund, and various deductions and exemptions are available.

Who needs to file?

  • People with employment income only: year-end tax settlement covers everything. You do not need to file a separate comprehensive income tax return.
  • People with income other than or in addition to employment income (freelance work, business income, rental income, interest and dividends, etc.): you must file a comprehensive income tax return.
  • Foreign nationals on various residence statuses — including recognized refugees (F-2-4) and humanitarian stay holders (G-1) — must also file if they have the relevant income.

When to file

  • May 1 — May 31 each year (regular filing period; those required to submit a certified tax compliance confirmation have until June 30)
  • If you miss May, you can still submit a “late filing,” but penalty surcharges may apply.

Exact dates can change each year, so please confirm the latest information with the Immigration Contact Center (1345) or your local Korea Immigration Service (KIS) office before you file.

Documents you need

  • Filing guidance notices can be viewed directly on Hometax (www.hometax.go.kr) or the Sontax app.
  • If you visit a tax office in person: bring your Alien Registration Card and your bank account number for the refund.

How to file

Online: Hometax or the Sontax app

You will need a financial certificate or a simple authentication method (Naver, Kakao, PAYCO, etc.) to log in.

  1. Log in to Hometax (www.hometax.go.kr) or the Sontax app.
  2. Go to [Tax Filing] > [Comprehensive Income Tax Return].
  3. Select Regular Filing (May) or Late Filing (after May).
  4. Follow the prompts — your income details will be pulled in automatically. Review them and submit the return.
  5. Enter your bank account number for the refund and complete the form.

In person: visit your local tax office (세무서)

Bring your Alien Registration Card and bank account number to the nearest tax office. Filing assistants at the counter can help you through the process. If you find online filing difficult, visiting in person is a good option.

What happens if you miss the deadline?

Missing the deadline can result in significant penalty surcharges, and in some cases it may also negatively affect your residence status and immigration processing. If you have comprehensive income, make sure to file in May.

Video guides (provided by the Seoul Migrant Support Center)

You can watch step-by-step filing guides in the following languages:

LanguageLink
KoreanWatch on YouTube
EnglishWatch on YouTube
ChineseWatch on YouTube
UrduWatch on YouTube
VietnameseWatch on YouTube
MongolianWatch on YouTube
RussianWatch on YouTube
UzbekWatch on YouTube