How do I apply the 19% flat tax rate in year-end tax settlement as a foreign worker?

At year-end tax settlement, attach the "Application for Flat Tax Rate for Foreign Workers" (외국인근로자 단일세율적용신청서) to the Earned Income Deduction and Tax Credit Report (근로소득자 소득·세액공제신고서) and submit it to your company (the withholding agent). For employment income you earn up to the end of the tax year that falls within 20 years of your first day of work in Korea, you can apply 19% instead of the 6~45% basic tax rates. It applies only if you apply. It is not applied automatically.

How to apply

1. At year-end settlement time, ask your company's person in charge for the Application for Flat Tax Rate for Foreign Workers.
2. Attach the application to the Earned Income Deduction and Tax Credit Report.
3. Submit it to your company (the withholding agent), a tax association, or the head of the competent tax office. Usually you submit it to your company.
4. If you file the comprehensive income tax return yourself, submit the application in the same way.

💡 If you want 19% withheld from your monthly pay

You must submit the Application for Flat Rate Withholding through your company to the head of the competent tax office by the 10th of the month after the month in which you worked. If you want to give it up later, submit a waiver application. The flat rate stops applying from the tax year after the year you submit it.

⚠️ Things to note

• You cannot receive deductions. If you apply 19%, the rules on tax exemptions, deductions, reductions, and tax credits do not apply, and you are excluded from comprehensive taxation. Health insurance and employment insurance premiums paid by your company also become taxable.
• It is not better for everyone. Your tax differs from person to person. Calculate your expected tax with the Year-End Tax Settlement Simplification Service (연말정산 간소화 서비스) before you choose.
• Related companies are not eligible. You cannot apply it if you work for a company that is related to you by family or management control. Some foreign-invested companies are exceptions.
• There is a condition on the start date. The law says it applies if you first start working in Korea on or before 31 December 2026. If you start work after that, check whether the law has been amended.

Check your case at your tax office or the National Tax Service call center (국세청 상담센터) at 126, and ask your company to do the calculation for you.