Over 20 Million Workers Surpass Year-End Tax Settlement for the First Time Last Year... Average Salary 42 Million Won

National Tax Service Releases Fourth Quarter National Tax Statistics

The number of workers who filed year-end tax settlements last year exceeded 20 million for the first time. The average total salary was 42 million KRW, with Seoul having the highest at 49 million KRW.

On the 20th, the National Tax Service (NTS) released the '4th Quarter National Tax Statistics' containing this information.

According to the data, the number of workers who filed year-end tax settlements for 2022 was 20.53 million, an increase of 1.95 million (10.5%) compared to five years ago (18.58 million). The number of filers with no tax payable was 6.9 million (33.6%), down by 320,000 (4.4%) from five years ago (7.22 million, 38.9%).

The average total salary per worker who filed year-end tax settlements was 42.13 million KRW, up 5.66 million KRW (15.5%) from five years ago (36.47 million KRW). By worker residence, Seoul (49.16 million KRW), Sejong (48.87 million KRW), and Ulsan (47.36 million KRW) ranked highest.

The number of filers with total salaries exceeding 100 million KRW was 1.317 million (6.4%), an increase of 515,000 (64.2%) compared to five years ago (802,000, 4.3%). The total salary amount was 209.8 trillion KRW (24.2%), and the total tax payable was 37.1 trillion KRW (62.7%).

An NTS official explained, "The increase in the number of workers and nominal wage growth led to the rise in both the number of filers and the average total salary. The increase in filers earning over 100 million KRW is in the same context."

The number of foreign workers filing year-end tax settlements was 544,000, with total tax payable of 1.2 trillion KRW. Compared to five years ago (573,000 filers, 800 billion KRW tax), the number of filers decreased by 5.1% (29,000), but the tax payable increased by 50% (400 billion KRW).

The number of confirmed comprehensive income tax filers for 2022 was 10.28 million, a 48.8% (3.37 million) increase from five years ago (6.91 million). The total comprehensive income amount was 337.5 trillion KRW, and the total tax payable was 48.7 trillion KRW. Compared to five years ago, the comprehensive income amount increased by 57.9% (123.8 trillion KRW), and the total tax payable rose by 52.2% (16.7 trillion KRW). The average comprehensive income per filer was 32.85 million KRW, up 1.93 million KRW (6.2%) from five years ago (30.92 million KRW).

The number of capital gains tax filings was 664,000, with a capital gains amount of 90.9 trillion KRW and total tax payable of 25.6 trillion KRW. Compared to five years ago, the number of filings decreased by 12.5% (95,000), but the capital gains amount increased by 23.2% (17.1 trillion KRW), and the total tax payable rose by 43.8% (7.8 trillion KRW). The average capital gains amount per filing was 136.9 million KRW, up 39.67 million KRW (40.8%) from five years ago (97.23 million KRW).

The number of capital assets reported in capital gains tax filings was 1.078 million, a 3.8% (39,000) increase from five years ago (1.039 million). By asset type, land (561,000 cases, 52%), buildings (240,000 cases, 22.3%), and stocks (231,000 cases, 21.4%) were the most common.

Last year, the number of tax audits was 14,174, and the assessed tax amount was 5.3 trillion KRW. Compared to five years ago, the number of audits decreased by 13.1% (2,132 cases), and the assessed tax amount decreased by 20.9% (1.4 trillion KRW).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.