How to File Income Tax on Hometax as a Foreigner

Before you start

• Check whether employer year-end settlement covered all relevant salary and whether other income requires a return.
• Identify the income year and whether you are filing for the first time or correcting an existing return.
• Read the current NTS instructions for that year and income mix.
• Resolve residency, treaty or unfamiliar accounting questions before approving figures.

What you need

• Working personal Hometax access
• Payer-by-payer income and withholding records
• Employer settlement receipts and any previous return receipt
• Supported expense and deduction records for the applicable filing method
• Refund-account details if requested and a way to save receipts

Steps

1. Step 1: Select the income year and return type

   Check the year in which income arose, any previous submission, and whether the regular filing window is still open. Do not start a second original return merely because you want to change the first one.

2. Step 2: Open the official income-tax filing service

   The NTS route is Hometax login, tax filing, then comprehensive income-tax filing. Select the return appropriate to your income and filing circumstances; the Korean labels and source are explained below.

3. Step 3: Reconcile the return with your records

   Match every payer, income category, gross figure, withholding amount and supported deduction. Resolve missing or duplicated records before submission.

4. Step 4: Review and submit the national return

   Check taxpayer identity, year, final payment or refund, account information and warnings. Save the completed return and its receipt with the submission reference.

5. Step 5: Complete the local-tax check

   Use the local income-tax link or the official local service. Review and submit the local return where required, retaining its own receipt.

6. Step 6: Deal with payment or refund separately

   For amounts due, save payment confirmations for each tax. For refunds, keep the return result and follow the refund-status procedure; the filing result is not a bank credit.

What to check before submitting

Choose the return before entering figures

Start with two questions: which income year are you dealing with, and has a return for that year already been submitted? Keep the original receipt if there is one. A missing deduction, newly discovered income and a first late return are different problems; ask which correction or late-filing route fits before opening a new original return.

The NTS overview explains filing exceptions and deadlines. Salary-only workers whose year-end adjustment is complete may fall within an exception, but uncombined employers or other income require further checking. For the ordinary 2025 income-year return, it lists June 1, 2026, with June 30 for the required tax-compliance-confirmation group. As of this guide’s October 27 review, those windows have passed. Do not interpret a payment extension as a new filing deadline without checking its terms.

Use the verified starting path

The official NTS filing instructions give this starting path:

Hometax → login → 세금신고 → 종합소득세 신고

The last two labels mean tax filing and comprehensive income-tax filing. Select the correct return and filing type from the options presented. These directions follow published official guidance; your account and filing period may produce different subsequent screens.

Use the NTS manual library for the specific method. It contains separate manuals, including late-filing materials. An English explanation of a term is not enough to decide whether an accounting or expense method applies to you.

Make a reconciliation outside the form

Create a worksheet with payer, income type, income period, gross amount, withholding and source-document reference. Compare that worksheet with the imported records. Use the original statements to explain each difference; do not force a bank deposit to equal a gross-income field when a payer has withheld tax or deducted charges.

For deductions, retain the document and the reason you meet the applicable conditions. A prefilled figure or an available checkbox does not establish eligibility. If an amount remains unexplained, pause that part of the return and identify the missing evidence.

Fictional example: an employer and a client

Sam has an employer withholding receipt and a separate client payment statement. The salary figures match Hometax, but the client does not appear. Sam records the discrepancy and asks the client for the reporting details. Sam does not assume that a salary-only filing is complete merely because that screen is already filled in.

This example illustrates preparation, not the tax classification or liability of a particular payment. The contract and applicable rules still determine how the client income is treated.

Treat submission, local filing and payment as separate checkpoints

Before national submission, compare the final summary with your worksheet: identity, income year, income totals, withholding, supported deductions and payment or refund result. Save the submitted return and receipt. A stored draft or calculation screenshot is insufficient evidence that submission finished.

The 2026 local-tax guidance describes moving from the national return to Wetax through the local-tax filing link. Review the transferred details and keep the local service’s own receipt. If the link fails, preserve the national receipt and resolve the local return with the relevant authority; do not submit the national return repeatedly to fix a transfer problem.

Finally, record any national and local amounts due, their deadlines and payment references separately. Use the payment procedure for an amount due or the refund-status procedure for a refund result.

Common mistakes

• Using the calendar year of submission instead of the income year
• Choosing a salary-only route while other income remains unresolved
• Approving imported data without checking it
• Saving a draft and treating it as a receipt
• Finishing national filing but omitting the local-tax and payment checks

What to do if you are stuck

• Missing payer: compare the contract and payment record with the payer's statement before making an entry.
• Wrong return type: retain the draft and ask which route matches your income and filing history.
• Local link fails: retain the national receipt and contact the local tax authority about completing its return.
• Already submitted: collect the receipt and proposed changes before asking about the appropriate correction route.

FAQ