Foreign Workers Must Complete '2024 Year-End Tax Settlement' by the End of February

National Tax Service Provides Year-End Tax Settlement Guidance Through English Brochures and YouTube Videos

Foreign workers (excluding daily workers) must complete year-end tax settlement for 2024 employment income by the end of next month, regardless of nationality or length of stay.

The National Tax Service (NTS) announced on the 6th that foreign workers with domestic employment income in 2024 must complete year-end tax settlement by the time they receive their February salary. The number of foreign workers undergoing year-end tax settlement increased from 510,000 in 2021 to 540,000 in 2022, and 610,000 in 2023.

Based on the year-end tax settlement results, the final determined tax amount will be compared with the tax withheld monthly by the withholding agent (company), and any difference will be either additionally paid or refunded.

The year-end tax settlement procedure for foreign workers is basically the same as for domestic workers. However, the income deduction for housing subscription savings requires the taxpayer to be the head of household, so foreigners who cannot be heads of household under the Resident Registration Act cannot apply for this deduction even if they are residents. For tax special cases applied only to foreigners, such as the 19% flat tax rate and income tax reductions for foreign technicians, the eligibility criteria must be reviewed.

Foreign workers who wish to receive the simplified year-end tax settlement data service must complete the confirmation (consent) process on the Hometax system by the 15th.

The NTS provides various guidance services to help foreign workers unfamiliar with the Korean language and system complete year-end tax settlement without difficulty. Detailed information on year-end tax settlement can be found in the guidebooks and foreign language manuals (English, Chinese, Vietnamese) posted on the NTS English website, as well as in the guidance videos (English) available on the NTS YouTube channel. Consultations are available anywhere through a dedicated foreigner (English) consultation phone line. Especially this year, leaflets containing key information on tax special cases applicable only to foreigners were produced in four languages (Korean, English, Chinese, Vietnamese) and distributed to tax office civil service centers, embassies, foreign worker support centers, and other related organizations.

An NTS official stated, "The NTS verifies the accuracy of the reported information after the year-end tax settlement is completed," and added, "We ask foreign workers to file their taxes faithfully by referring to the provided information and to be careful not to incur additional penalties (up to 40%) due to improper deductions."

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