Comprehensive Income Tax Calculator

The Comprehensive Income Tax Calculator helps self-employed individuals, freelancers, and sole proprietors in South Korea estimate their annual income tax liability. In Korea, comprehensive income tax (종합소득세) is filed annually in May and covers all types of income including business income, interest, dividends, rental income, pension, and other income. Unlike salaried employees who settle taxes through year-end settlement (연말정산), self-employed individuals and freelancers must file their own comprehensive income tax return. This calculator applies Korea's 8-tier progressive tax rates (6% to 45%) to your taxable income after deducting business expenses and personal allowances. The calculator also visualizes the tax amount for each bracket in a bar chart, helping you understand how progressive taxation works — only the income within each bracket is taxed at that bracket's rate, not your entire income.

Step 1: Choose your expense input method. • Direct Input: Enter your actual business expenses if you maintain bookkeeping records. • Simple Expense Rate: Enter your industry's standard expense rate (%) if you do not keep detailed records. The calculator will automatically compute expenses as a percentage of revenue. Step 2: Enter your total annual revenue (gross income from business or freelance work). Step 3: Enter deduction items. • Dependents: Number of dependents excluding yourself (1.5M KRW per person) • National Pension & Health Insurance: Enter the full amount paid (fully deductible) • Other Deductions: Any additional income deductions Step 4: Enter tax credit items. • Child Tax Credit: 150K for 1 child, 350K for 2, 350K + 300K per additional child • If no children, the standard tax credit of 70K KRW is automatically applied Step 5: Enter any prepaid tax (interim payments, withholding tax) to see your refund or additional payment amount.

The comprehensive income tax follows this calculation flow: Total Revenue - Necessary Expenses = Total Income Total Income - Deductions = Tax Base Tax Base × Progressive Rate = Calculated Tax Calculated Tax - Tax Credits = Final Tax Final Tax + Local Tax (10%) = Total Tax Due Progressive Tax Rates (8 tiers): • Up to 14M: 6% • 14M-50M: 15% (progressive deduction: 1.26M) • 50M-88M: 24% (progressive deduction: 5.76M) • 88M-150M: 35% (progressive deduction: 15.44M) • 150M-300M: 38% (progressive deduction: 19.94M) • 300M-500M: 40% (progressive deduction: 25.94M) • 500M-1B: 42% (progressive deduction: 35.94M) • Over 1B: 45% (progressive deduction: 65.94M) Deductions: • Personal Exemption: (dependents + 1) × 1,500,000 KRW • National Pension: full amount paid • Health Insurance: full amount paid Tax Credits: • Child Credit: 150K (1 child), 350K (2), 350K + 300K × (n-2) for 3+ • Standard Credit: 70K KRW (when no child credit applies)

1. Bookkeeping Matters: Maintaining proper business records (bookkeeping) typically results in higher expense deductions than using the simplified expense rate. If your revenue exceeds certain thresholds by industry, you are required to use double-entry bookkeeping — consider hiring a tax accountant. 2. Simple vs Standard Expense Rate: If your previous year's revenue is below the threshold for your industry, you can use the simple expense rate (단순경비율). Above the threshold, you must use the standard expense rate (기준경비율), which is significantly lower — you'll need to provide documentation for major expenses (purchases, rent, labor) to reduce your tax base. 3. Interim Tax Payments: If you made interim tax payments in November, include them as prepaid tax to see your actual additional payment or refund amount. 4. Filing Deadline: The comprehensive income tax filing period is May 1-31 each year. Taxpayers subject to the faithful reporting system have an extended deadline until June 30. 5. Multiple Income Sources: If you have both employment income and business/freelance income, you must file comprehensive income tax combining all sources. Your employment income (already settled via year-end settlement) should be included in your total income calculation.