About this calculator
Korean earned income tax starts with the 근로소득공제: 70% of the first ₩5,000,000 of salary, then 40%, 15%, 5% and finally 2% in successive bands, capped at ₩20,000,000. What remains is 근로소득금액; subtract the ₩1,500,000 basic deduction per person (plus ₩1,000,000 for dependants aged 70+ and ₩2,000,000 for disabled dependants) and your other income deductions, and you have the tax base, rounded down to the nearest ₩1,000. Eight bands from 6% to 45% apply, via the official progressive deductions （누진공제）.
Then comes the credit that most guides get wrong: the 근로소득세액공제 is 55% of computed tax up to ₩1,300,000 of tax (then ₩715,000 plus 30% of the excess), but it is capped — ₩740,000 at salaries up to ₩33,000,000, sliding down with floors of ₩660,000, ₩500,000 and ₩200,000 as salary rises. Local income tax adds a flat 10% of the final income tax. Social insurance premiums (4대보험） are themselves income deductions, so enter them above for a realistic take-home figure.
How to use it
- Enter your monthly salary (annual 총급여액 is monthly × 12, before any withholding).
- Count the dependants you claim, and any aged 70+ or disabled.
- Enter other income deductions — most importantly your 4대보험 employee premiums — and any other tax credits.
- Read the income tax, the 10% local tax, and the take-home line.
The formula
Worked example, single, ₩60,000,000 salary, no dependants, no other deductions: 근로소득공제 = ₩12,000,000 + 5% × ₩15,000,000 = ₩12,750,000, so 근로소득금액 is ₩47,250,000; minus the ₩1,500,000 basic deduction, 과세표준 is ₩45,750,000. Computed tax = 45,750,000 × 15% − 1,260,000 = ₩5,602,500. The credit before cap is ₩715,000 + 30% × ₩4,302,500 = ₩2,005,750, but the cap at ₩60,000,000 salary is ₩660,000 (the sliding formula gives ₩524,000, below the ₩660,000 floor). Income tax ₩4,942,500, local tax ₩494,250, total ₩5,436,750 — an effective rate of 9.06%.
Worked example
A single employee on ₩5,000,000 a month (₩60,000,000 a year) with no dependants and no other deductions: income tax ₩4,942,500 plus local tax ₩494,250 = ₩5,436,750 total, leaving ₩54,563,250 before social insurance premiums. Enter your 4대보험 premiums (roughly ₩4,700,000 a year at a ₩50,000,000 salary) above and both the tax and the take-home adjust — the premiums are deductible, so they lower the tax as well as the pay.
Sources: Income Tax Act §§47, 50, 55, 59 (band table and credit cap arithmetically verified at every boundary); Local Income Tax Act (10% rate). NTS 연말정산 guide / current statute text not retrievable in the verification session — re-confirm against NTS before relying on edge cases. Verified October 2026. Last updated: October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the take-home figure “before social insurance” by default?
Because the premiums depend on your standard monthly income and scheme, and they are large — roughly ₩4,700,000 a year at a ₩50,000,000 salary (national pension 4.5%, health insurance 3.545% plus long-term care, employment insurance 0.9%). They are income deductions, so entering them reduces your tax base as well as your pay. With 0 entered, the result is the statutory tax computation, not a payslip.
What is the 표준세액공제 ₩130,000, and why is it not applied?
Wage earners who claim no special income deductions, special tax credits or rent credit get a flat ₩130,000 credit. In practice almost nobody qualifies, because health and employment insurance premiums are automatically deducted as special income deductions — which disqualifies the standard credit. Applying it here would understate tax for nearly every real employee, so the calculator leaves it out and says so.
How does the earned income tax credit cap slide?
The credit itself is 55% of computed tax up to ₩1,300,000 of tax, then ₩715,000 plus 30% of the excess — but the cap falls as salary rises: ₩740,000 up to ₩33,000,000; then ₩740,000 minus 0.8% of salary above ₩33,000,000, floored at ₩660,000; then ₩660,000 minus half of salary above ₩70,000,000, floored at ₩500,000; above ₩120,000,000, ₩500,000 minus half of salary above ₩120,000,000, floored at ₩200,000. The floors bind quickly — at ₩60,000,000 the sliding formula already gives ₩524,000, so the ₩660,000 floor applies.
What about the 2026 reform raising the dependant income test?
A 2026 reform proposal raises the dependant income test from ₩1,000,000 to ₩3,000,000 (salary-only ₩5,000,000 to ₩7,500,000), but it applies from 2027 income (felt in the early-2028 settlement). The 2025 income year modelled here still uses ₩1,000,000 / ₩5,000,000 — do not apply the new thresholds to a 2025 return.
Do bonuses and stock compensation count as salary here?
Yes — bonuses, incentives and most taxable fringe benefits are part of 총급여액 for the earned income deduction and the credit cap. Equity compensation has its own timing and valuation rules, and severance pay is taxed separately under retirement income rules, so treat those as out of scope for this calculator.
What formula does this South Korea Income Tax calculator use?
총급여액 = 월급여액 × 12; 근로소득금액 = 총급여액 − 근로소득공제; 과세표준 = 근로소득금액 − 기본공제 − other deductions (rounded down to ₩1,000); Tax = bands − 근로소득세액공제 (capped); 지방소득세 = 10% × final income tax Worked example, single, ₩60,000,000 salary, no dependants, no other deductions: 근로소득공제 = ₩12,000,000 + 5% × ₩15,000,000 = ₩12,750,000, so 근로소득금액 is ₩47,250,000; minus the ₩1,500,000 basic deduction, 과세표준 is ₩45,750,000. Computed tax = 45,750,000 × 15% − 1,260,000 = ₩5,602,500. The credit before cap is ₩715,000 + 30% × ₩4,302,500 = ₩2,005,750, but the cap at ₩60,000,000 salary is ₩660,000 (the sliding formula gives ₩524,000, below the ₩660,000 floor). Income tax ₩4,942,500, local tax ₩494,250, total ₩5,436,750 — an effective rate of 9.06%. The worked example on this page applies the formula step by step with real numbers, so you can verify the result by hand.