Foreign worker flat tax rate on Korean employment income

19% (20.9% with local income tax)percent, before local income tax

Quoted constantly without the two conditions attached to it — that it applies to employment income only, and that electing it gives up most deductions. Recording the rate separately from those conditions keeps the number honest.

Applies to: Foreign employees electing the flat rate instead of the progressive brackets
Review cadence: Checked once a year

What we have recorded

2026-09-14
19% (20.9% with local income tax)
Local income tax adds 10% of the income tax figure, so the headline combined rate is 20.9%. Applies to Korean employment income only — business, interest, dividend and rental income are taxed under the ordinary rules regardless of the election.
Restriction of Special Taxation Act, Article 18-2

One reading so far. This becomes a history the first time the figure moves while we are watching — which is the part that cannot be reconstructed later.

Guides that depend on this figure

When this figure moves, every guide above needs the same edit. That is why it is tracked here rather than copied into each one.