Year-end tax settlement in Korea: only what you can still change by Dec 31
Only the things you can't change after December 31. Should you spend more on your card? How much should go into an IRP?
Money you spend and pay in 2026 is settled by your employer in January to February 2027. Every rate and limit comes from the statute text.
Example: with total pay (총급여) of ₩50,000,000, the card threshold is ₩12,500,000. Spend less than that and the card deduction is zero.
Items
- Credit card deductionHow far you are from 25% of pay, and what changes if the rest goes on a debit card
- Pension savings and IRP creditWhat another deposit by Dec 31 is worth at 12% or 15%
- Monthly rent creditThe Dec 31 homeless-householder test and 15% or 17% of this year's rent
- Medical expense creditWhether you passed 3% of pay, and whether a December hospital bill counts
- Hometown Love donation credit100/110 of the first ₩100,000, then a lower rate per band
- All five in one viewWhat you enter on each page stays on this device. The summary page adds it up.
What this does not do
It does not run the whole settlement. Personal allowances, insurance and education are left out, since you can't change them in December.
It does not give you a final tax figure. Results are estimates. Your real tax comes from Hometax (홈택스) and your employer.
It is not tax advice or filing on your behalf. It never says which financial product to pick.
How the numbers workStatutesIf you are a foreign employee
If you chose the 19% flat rate under Article 18-2 of the Restriction of Special Taxation Act, none of these deductions apply. Paragraph 3 of that article switches them off.
What this leaves out
Things we couldn't confirm in the text, or that this tool doesn't compute. Listed by name.
- Housing loan and housing savings deductions (Income Tax Act Art. 52(4) and (5)) aren't computed. If you get them, the itemized tax on the summary page would be lower.
- What counts as a medical expense is set by decree. We don't list it; enter the amounts from Hometax.
- We don't check national housing size or standard price. The conditions are quoted from the text only.
- Hometown Love thank-you gifts: we couldn't confirm the rule, so it's not here.
- The extra limit for moving a matured ISA into a pension account (Art. 59-3(3) and (4)) isn't included.
- Insurance, education, other donations and personal allowances are not computed.
- Spending that doesn't count, like buying a car (Art. 126-2(4)), should be left out when you enter amounts.
Made by the same person
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