[공정언론 창업일보]2월은 내국인 근로자뿐만 아니라 외국인 근로자도 작년 근로소득에 대한 연말정산을 해야 하는 달이다.
외국인 근로자의 연말정산 일정 및 공제항목과 세액계산 방식은 원칙적으로 내국인과 동일하다.
다만, 주택마련저축 납입액 소득공제는 세대주일 것을 요건으로 하므로 주민등록법상 세대주가 될 수 없는 외국인은 거주자라 할지라도 적용받을 수 없다는 차이가 있다.
19% 단일세율, 기술자 감면과 같이 외국인만을 대상으로 하는 조세특례 규정도 있으니 외국인 근로자는 이를 적극적으로 활용할 필요가 있다.
특히, 올해 연말정산 대상인 ’23년 귀속 소득부터는 19% 단일세율과 기술자 감면의 적용 기간이 대폭 확대*되어 장기간 국내에서 근로한 외국인도 동 특례를 적용받을 수 있게 됐다.
국세청은 50만여 외국인 근로자가 어려움 없이 연말정산을 할 수 있도록 다양한 안내 서비스를 제공하고 있다고 밝혔다.
안내 책자(Easy Guide, 영어)와 연말정산 매뉴얼(영·중·베트남어)을 국세청 영문 누리집에 게재하였고, 외국인 전용 상담 전화도 운영하고 있 다. 특히, 올해에는 외국인을 위한 연말정산 안내 동영상(영어)을 새롭게 제작하여 국세청 유튜브를 통해 제공하고 있으니 꼭 참고하여 외국인 단일세율 등 연말정산 관련 궁금증을 해소하면 된다.
[영문자료]
Dear Foreign Employees, Don’t Forget Your Year-end Tax Settlements on February
Refer to the guide materials such as our YouTube video covering foreigner’s year-end tax settlement, and apply for all advantageous regulations, exemptions, deductions, and tax credits -
Both domestic and foreign employees should do the year-end tax settlements for income earned last year no later than the date on which the wages for February this year are paid.
The schedule, the deduction and tax credit items, and the procedure for calculating tax amount of foreign employees' year-end tax settlement are basically same as those of domestic employees.
However, the income deduction for savings for housing purchase is only applicable to a ‘householder’, so it can not be applied to a foreigner who can not be a ‘householder’ according to Resident Registration Act.
There are special taxation regulations that apply only to foreigners such as the application of the 19% flat tax rate and income reduction/exemption for foreign engineers.
Especially, starting from the year-end tax settlement on income attributable to the year 2023, the applicable periods of the 19% flat tax rate and the income reduction/exemption for foreign engineers are extended*, so foreigners who have worked in Korea for a long period can also take advantage of these special regulations. *Application of 19% flat tax rate: 5→20 yrs, Tax reduction/exemption for foreign engineers: 5→10 yrs
National Tax Service (NTS, Commissioner: Changki Kim) provides various services so that about 500 thousands foreign employees working in Korea can do their year-end tax settlements without difficulty.
※The number of foreign employees doing the year-end tax settlement : 505 thousands(hereinafter abbreviated as ‘k‘) in 2021 → 544k in 2022
For more detailed information on the year-end tax settlement, foreign employees can check ‘Easy Guide for Year-end Tax Settlement(English)’ or ‘Year-end Tax Settlement Manual for Foreigners(English, Chinese, Vietnamese)’ provided on our English website or call the English helpline for foreigners(☎1588-0560).
This year, we have created YouTube videos on how foreign employees can do the year-end tax settlements, so please check NTS YouTube channel.
NTS will continue to further improve our service quality to support foreign employees doing the year-end tax settlements.