"There really are people who get KRW 300 million refunds" 195 people received more than KRW 100 million in year-end tax refunds

[Financial News] Year-end tax settlement data showed that 195 salaried workers received tax refunds of more than KRW 100 million each. Their average refund exceeded KRW 300 million per person, while the number of recipients rose 38% and the total refund amount increased 2.5-fold from two years earlier. Conversely, 1,794 salaried workers paid more than KRW 100 million in additional taxes, indicating that cases involving both large refunds and additional payments increased.
On the 6th, News 1 reported that 195 people received refunds of more than KRW 100 million in the 2024 tax-year year-end settlement, citing data titled "Status of Year-End Tax Settlements for Wage Income (2022–2024)" submitted by the National Tax Service (NTS) to Seong-Ho Jeong, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker and member of the National Assembly Planning and Finance Committee. Their refunded tax totaled KRW 59.9 billion, or KRW 307.3 million per person.
The number of people receiving refunds of more than KRW 100 million rose each year, from 141 in 2022 to 171 in 2023 and 195 in 2024. During the same period, the total refunded tax increased from KRW 24 billion to KRW 38.9 billion and KRW 59.9 billion. The average refund per person also grew from KRW 170.48 million to KRW 227.25 million and KRW 307.3 million.

Among the 21,078,535 workers subject to the 2024 tax-year year-end settlement, 14,854,954, or 70.5%, received tax refunds. The total refunded tax was KRW 12.5865 trillion. Meanwhile, 3,772,299 people, or 17.9%, paid additional taxes, totaling KRW 4.4181 trillion.
The top 0.1% by refund amount, or 14,854 people, received a combined KRW 440.1 billion. That amounted to KRW 29.63 million per person. Their total salary income, excluding nontaxable income, was KRW 8.3807 trillion, or approximately KRW 564.2 million per person.
The number of salaried workers who paid more than KRW 100 million in additional taxes was also significant, at 1,794. They paid a combined KRW 405.8 billion, or KRW 226.21 million per person. Although they accounted for just 0.05% of all people making additional payments, they paid 9.2% of the total additional tax. Expanding the group to the top 0.1% by additional payment amount, or 3,772 people, brings the total to KRW 561.3 billion, or KRW 148.81 million per person.
The top 0.1% by additional payment had total salary income of KRW 4.379 trillion, or KRW 1.16093 billion per person. This was more than twice the KRW 564.2 million per-person figure for the top 0.1% by refund amount. Their final tax liability was KRW 1.6246 trillion, but the tax withheld from their paychecks totaled KRW 1.0589 trillion, just 65% of their final liability.
The overall number of people making additional payments and the total amount also rose again. The number increased 6.4%, from 3,544,553 in the 2023 tax year to 3,772,299 in 2024. The additional tax paid rose 10.2%, from KRW 4.0091 trillion to KRW 4.4181 trillion.

For the 2024 tax year, the average refund per person was KRW 847,000, while the median refund was KRW 367,000. The average was 2.3 times the median. By refund amount, 11,079,156 people received KRW 1 million or less, accounting for 74.6% of all refund recipients. Their refunds totaled KRW 335.48 billion, just 26.7% of the total refunded tax.
Additional payments were also mostly small. The 2,987,791 people who paid KRW 1 million or less accounted for 79.2% of all people making additional payments. The median additional payment was KRW 281,000, only about one-quarter of the average of KRW 1.171 million.
Meanwhile, the average refund per person rose from KRW 771,000 in the 2022 tax year to KRW 824,000 in 2023 and KRW 847,000 in 2024. The median refund also increased from KRW 325,000 to KRW 350,000 and KRW 367,000 over the same period.
Year-end tax settlement is a system that compares the tax withheld in advance from monthly paychecks according to the simplified tax table with the actual tax due early the following year. The difference is then refunded or collected. If the amount paid in advance is greater than the final tax liability, the taxpayer receives a refund; if it is lower, the taxpayer makes an additional payment.
Seong-Ho Jeong pointed out, "The number of cases in which people received refunds of more than KRW 100 million or paid more than KRW 100 million in additional taxes has been rising every year." He added, "Tax authorities need to examine why such large discrepancies arise between actual tax liabilities and the amounts withheld at the source."
[email protected] Hee-sun Kim Reporter