Insights
Practical knowledge for foreign companies in Korea.
Can the Korean company deduct stock option costs reimbursed to its foreign parent?
Where a Korean company reimburses its foreign parent for stock option exercise costs, the amount is deductible if four conditions are met. Whether the parent was listed is tested at grant, not at exercise.
Parent-company RSUs: your employer's deadline is March, not May
When the overseas parent grants RSUs to an employee of its Korean subsidiary, the subsidiary does not withhold. The employee files in May, and the company files a statement by 10 March.
“We sign everything at head office” no longer keeps you safe
The office does not sell anything, and every contract is signed abroad by the parent. Korea may still tax you. What matters is not where the signature happened but who did the negotiating.
The treaty says 15%, so why am I told to withhold 16.5%?
You saw 15% in the tax treaty and set out to withhold it, only to be told the figure is 16.5%. You did not misread the rate table. There is one more tax the treaty cannot lower.
Get the treaty rate right and you're done? From 2026, one step has quietly been added to withholding
If your company pays interest, dividends, royalties, or similar income abroad and has been withholding at the treaty-reduced rate, from 2026 there is now one more document to file with the tax office. The rate has not changed, but the procedure has.
You've Been Zero-Rating Your Overseas Services. What Happens If You Get Paid in Crypto?
You have been zero-rating your overseas services. Get paid in crypto, and that 0% can collapse. The dividing line is where the service was performed.
Do I Charge Korean VAT When Billing an Overseas Customer?
"Overseas customer = 0% VAT"? Not automatically. The conditions for zero-rating, from a real case.