Guide helps foreigners with taxes

The National Tax Service has released a guide for foreigners working in Korea that will help them settle their taxes at the end of the year.

According to the guide released Thursday, foreign employees will be entitled to a flat 17 percent income tax. Foreign engineers are eligible for income tax relief after meeting several criteria including working on technology-transfer contracts or serving as a researcher at a foreign research and development center. The engineer can get a 50 percent exemption on income earned in the last two years.

Foreigners will not be eligible for tax deductions on housing funds, monthly rent or savings made on apartment purchases.

The number of foreigners required under the law to file taxes has been increasing in recent years. In 2013, roughly 480,000 foreigners living in Seoul filed year-end taxes. In 2015, the figure grew 13 percent to 544,000.

The guide is available on the tax agency’s website at www.nts.go.kr/eng. It includes a program that will automatically calculate a tax refund estimate.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]