Why do salaried workers in Korea not file a global income tax return in May? Because a provision says they “need not”. A person with wage income only is the first on its list. But those paid by two employers, or whose employer did not carry out the year-end settlement, fall outside it. We read Article 73 of the Income Tax Act in the original.
1. The people who need not file are listed. Those with wage income only, retirement income only, public pension income only, and so on (Article 73(1)).
2. Income from two or more payers is, in principle, outside the exception. Unless the year-end settlement leaves no further tax to pay (Article 73(2)).
3. If the employer did not settle, you must file. Paragraph (1) does not apply where the withholding agent did not withhold the tax (Article 73(4)).
Who need not file — Article 73(1)
| Item | Text | Typical case (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A person with wage income only | An employee paid by one company |
| 2 | A person with retirement income only | Only a severance payment that year |
| 3 | A person with public pension income only | Only the National Pension |
| 4 | Only business income that is withheld at source and prescribed by Presidential Decree | Depends on the Decree |
| 4-2 | Only clergy income withheld as other income | — |
| 5 to 7-2 | Only wage + retirement, retirement + public pension, retirement + item 4, or retirement + item 4-2 income | Salary and severance in the year of leaving |
| 8 | Only separately taxed interest, dividend, pension and other income (excluding income not withheld) | Only deposit interest |
| 9 | A person under items 1 to 7-2 who also has separately taxed interest, dividend, pension or other income | Salary plus deposit interest |
Look at the combinations. “Wage + retirement” (item 5) and “retirement + public pension” (item 6) are there, but “wage + public pension” is not on the list. We read that as: in a year with both salary and the National Pension, this provision alone does not exempt you (our reading — confirm your own case with the tax office or a tax accountant).
Falling outside the exception
Income from two or more payers — paragraph (2)
Paragraph (1) does not apply to a person (other than a daily worker) who receives wage income, public pension income, retirement income, clergy income or item 4 income from two or more payers. There is a proviso: it is otherwise for a person who, having paid tax through the year-end settlement and the like, has no tax left to pay on a final return.
We read this as: an employee who changed jobs and had the new employer include the previous pay in the year-end settlement has nothing left to pay and need not file; if the pay was not combined, they must file in May. What combining two employers’ pay does to the deduction is worked out in wage income deduction.
Where the employer did not withhold — paragraph (4)
Paragraph (1) does not apply where, for a person with income under paragraph (2) (other than daily wage income), the withholding agent did not withhold the tax under the year-end settlement and related provisions. In plain terms: someone who left before the settlement and was never settled, or whose employer missed it, must file (our gloss).
The rest — paragraphs (3) and (5)
- Paragraph (1) does not apply to a person with wage income under the items of Article 127(1)4 or retirement income under the proviso to Article 127(1)7, unless tax was paid by withholding under Article 152(2) ((3)). Which income that means requires reading Article 127, which we did not reproduce this time.
- Where no further income arises after an occasional assessment, a final return need not be filed ((5)).
What “need not” means
The text does not forbid filing; it says a return “need not” be filed. We read that as not preventing someone exempt from filing voluntarily. This is where correcting a deduction missed at year-end by filing in May connects — see amended returns and refund claims.
Checklist
- ☐ Was wage income your only income that year (side, rental or freelance income changes things)?
- ☐ If you changed jobs, did the new employer include the previous pay in the settlement?
- ☐ If you left before the year-end settlement, were you settled?
- ☐ Is it a year with both salary and the National Pension?
Questions that remain
Do I have to file for a small side income?
Each item in paragraph (1) ends with “only”. Add income from outside the list and the item no longer fits. How each kind of side income is treated is in side-job income tax.
What if I should have filed and did not?
Filing after the deadline and the reduction of penalties are in late return penalty relief.
Sources
- Income Tax Act [Act No. 21221, partially amended 23 December 2025] — original text (checked 5 October 2026). Article 73(1) (items 1 to 9), (2) (two or more payers; proviso), (3), (4) (where tax was not withheld) and (5).
- Not read. The Decree defining item 4 business income, Article 127(1)4 and the proviso to (1)7, and Article 152(2).
- Our reading. That “wage + public pension” is absent from the list, and the glosses on job-changers and mid-year leavers, are our reading of the text.
Where to check further
- Filing itself — global income tax.
- Tax dates — tax calendar.
Written on 5 October 2026. The provisions are as published by the Korea Law Information Center; the reading is ours.
