How Foreign Workers Complete Korea Year-End Tax Form 37

Eight checks on employee Form 37

1. Use the correct pages: the official 15-page PDF bundles two declarations. Pages 1-10 are Form 37(1) for wage income; pages 11-15 are Form 37(2) for religious-person income. An ordinary employee should not continue into the second form merely because it is in the same file.
2. Page 1 identity and foreign-worker setup: enter tax year, name, identification number, workplace and business number, head-of-household status, nationality and code, work and reduction periods, resident or nonresident, country of residence and code. The instructions classify a foreign national as code 9. Determine tax residency from facts and law, not visa label alone.
3. Page 1 dependants and evidence: list only eligible family members with the correct relationship code, identification, domestic/foreign classification, income-threshold result and applicable personal credits. Separate National Tax Service data from other evidence. Confirm that no other taxpayer claims the same dependant.
4. Pages 2-3 deductions and credits: reconcile national pension, other public pension, health and employment insurance, housing funds, savings, card use, medical, education, donations, foreign tax, housing interest and monthly rent. Enter only amounts for which the legal conditions and tax-year evidence are met; subtract applicable insurance reimbursements such as indemnity medical insurance where the form requires it.
5. Page 3 reductions, signature and extra submissions: identify only a valid reduction category and period, including any applicable foreign-worker reduction, then complete foreign-tax, rent or housing credits as applicable. Review the declaration, date and sign it. The additional-submission table asks about foreign-worker flat-tax application, former-workplace receipts and detail schedules.
6. Pages 4-7 are instructions and the evidence checklist: use them to test dependant income, age and disability rules; housing, card and special-credit limits; and required documents. Asterisks can allow a document to be omitted in later years only when nothing changed. Overseas family documents may need translation or additional verification requested by the employer.
7. Pages 8-10 are conditional schedules: page 8 details pensions and savings, page 9 details rent or resident-to-resident housing-loan principal repayment, and page 10 details tax-exempt childbirth support. Complete a schedule only if its item applies and reconcile every financial institution, contract, payment and amount to the main declaration.
8. Compare, submit and verify: the ordinary Form 37 route and the foreign-worker flat-tax election have different legal effects. Before choosing, compare both for the same year with verified pay and deductions; use the separate application when electing the flat tax. Submit Form 37 and evidence to the employer, then check taxable wage, deductions, credits, refund or additional tax and the wage withholding receipt.

Example only — do not submit: Minh T. is treated as a Korean tax resident for the year, enters foreign-national code 9, his verified nationality and country codes, and his actual work period. He lists only his spouse after checking that the spouse meets the income test and is not claimed by another taxpayer. He separates NTS medical and card data from translated overseas family evidence, leaves housing schedules blank because they do not apply. The example then asks payroll to compare the ordinary calculation with a possible flat-tax election. He signs only after reconciling every amount. Replace all status, family, dates, codes and amounts with verified tax-year facts.