Taxes in Korea for Foreigners
Last verified: September 22, 2026 · Source-verified
May is Korea’s main annual income-tax filing season, but not every foreign worker has to file a separate return.
If your only income is salary and your employer properly completed year-end tax settlement, a separate Global Income Tax return may not be required. Freelance business income, income from more than one workplace that was not fully consolidated, or a mix of salary and other income can create a May filing obligation.
Start with your income types and tax-residency status. Then compare what actually appears in HomeTax with your own payment records.
National Tax Service headquarters, Sejong · Photo: Minseong Kim / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Only salary from one employer, properly settled at year-end?
A separate final return is generally not required under the ordinary wage-income exception.
Received freelance/business income with 3.3% withheld?
Check your annual business income and May filing position. The 3.3% deduction is usually withholding, not an automatic final settlement.
Worked for more than one employer?
Check whether all wage income was combined in year-end settlement. If it was not, a final return may be needed.
Salary plus business, pension, interest, dividends or other income?
Review whether those amounts enter your Global Income Tax return or fall under a separate statutory treatment.
Foreign income or uncertain tax residency?
Resolve the resident/nonresident question before assuming which income Korea taxes.
1. What Korea means by Global Income Tax
Korea's 종합소득세 is the annual tax process that combines income categories subject to comprehensive taxation and calculates the final liability after deductions, credits and taxes already withheld.
Depending on the taxpayer, the return can involve business income, wage income, interest, dividends, pension income and other income. Some income is taxed separately under its own rules, so the fact that money entered your bank account does not tell you by itself how it belongs on the return.
For a foreigner, tax residency also matters because a resident and a nonresident can have different taxable-income scopes.
2. The normal filing season is May
The ordinary annual filing period is centered on May 1 through May 31 of the following year, subject to the statutory calendar and special categories.
For income earned in 2025, the National Tax Service announced a filing and payment deadline of June 1, 2026, because the normal May-end deadline fell on the calendar accordingly.
Do not copy that June 1 date into a later tax year without checking the new NTS notice.
Taxpayers subject to the separate 성실신고확인 system can have a later deadline. Most ordinary foreign freelancers should not assume that extension applies to them.
3. Use your income pattern to decide what needs checking
| Your situation | May filing position | First thing to check |
|---|---|---|
| One salary, properly year-end settled | Often no separate final return | Year-end settlement and withholding receipt |
| Freelance/business income with withholding | Common May-review case | Business income and tax already withheld |
| Two or more employers | Check whether wages were fully combined | All wage withholding statements |
| Salary plus freelance/business income | Often requires final review | Both wage and business-income records |
| Foreign-source income | Depends heavily on tax residency and special rules | Resident status, source, payment and remittance |
Your visa label does not decide the tax result. An F-visa holder who freelances still has to look at tax residency and income classification, just as a D- or E-status holder does.
4. Collect your records before opening HomeTax
HomeTax can save time, but the data shown on screen should be compared with your own records.
Prepare:
- wage and salary withholding receipts, 근로소득 원천징수영수증;
- business-income withholding records, 사업소득 원천징수영수증;
- contracts, invoices and payment records;
- records supporting legitimate business expenses;
- documents for deductions or credits you intend to claim;
- foreign-income and foreign-tax records if they are relevant to your Korean return.
If a client paid you but the payment does not appear where you expect in HomeTax, resolve the discrepancy before treating the prefilled screen as complete.
5. The HomeTax filing path
The National Tax Service currently gives this electronic filing route:
↓
로그인 Login
↓
세금신고 Tax Filing
↓
종합소득세 신고 Global Income Tax Return
↓
신고서 선택 · 정기신고 작성 Select the return / regular filing
↓
신고서 작성 및 제출 Complete and submit the return
↓
지방소득세 신고하기 File individual local income tax
The mobile HomeTax app, often called 손택스, follows a similar filing structure.
After the national income-tax return, complete the personal local income-tax step as well. HomeTax can connect the taxpayer to the local-tax filing process.
6. A refund is possible, but it is not automatic
Freelancers often hear about “getting the 3.3% back.” That phrase is too broad.
Your annual return compares the tax calculated on your taxable income with amounts already withheld and any applicable credits. A refund results when the amount already paid exceeds the final liability.
If the opposite is true, you pay the balance. The refund amount therefore depends on your own annual figures, not on a universal percentage available to every freelancer.
7. Resolve tax residency before filing foreign income
A foreigner who is a Korean tax resident can have a broader Korean taxable-income scope than a nonresident.
Foreign residents who have had a Korean domicile or place of residence for five years or less in the preceding ten-year period also have a special rule for foreign-source income. The payment and remittance facts matter.
If your return includes overseas employment, freelance clients, investments or another country's tax, determine your Korean tax-residency position first. The next tax guide explains the resident/nonresident test.
Video: filing Global Income Tax as a foreigner
This official regional NTS video shows the foreigner filing process from the previous filing season. Use the 2026 NTS guide and the current HomeTax screen for the latest filing year.
Official sources checked
- NTS — Guide to Filing 2025 Global Income Tax Return for Foreigners
- NTS — Individual Income Tax and Benefit Guide for Foreigners 2026
- NTS — Global Income Tax Filing and Payment Method
- NTS — 2026 Global and Local Income Tax Filing Notice
- Income Tax Act — Article 73, Exceptions to Final Return Filing