Common 100 Million Won Annual Salary Workers These Days... How Much Actually Goes Into Their Bank Accounts?

Annual salary of 100 million KRW, monthly net income around 6.5 million KRW
6.7 times increase in billion-won earners from 2009 to 2022

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The number of people earning annual salaries in the hundred million won range is increasing significantly every year. How much is the actual monthly take-home pay when receiving an annual salary of 100 million won?

For those earning 100 million won annually, the actual amount deposited into their bank account each month is 6.58 million won. For calculation convenience, non-taxable income was set as meal expenses of 2.4 million won per year, the number of dependents as one (the individual), and the simplified tax rate at 100%. Applying these criteria, to receive a monthly take-home pay of 10 million won, the annual salary needs to be around 170 million won.

When earning 200 million won annually, the monthly take-home pay is estimated to be 11.39 million won. To achieve a monthly take-home pay of about 15 million won, the annual salary must rise to approximately 280 million won. With an annual salary of 300 million won, the monthly take-home pay is 15.9 million won, and with 400 million won, it is 20 million won.

From an annual salary of 330 million won, deductions exceed 10 million won, and when the salary reaches 350 million won, the monthly health insurance premium alone exceeds 1 million won. The withholding income tax is 9.34 million won, resulting in a monthly take-home pay of 18 million won.

The National Tax Service (NTS) revealed that the number of domestic workers with an annual total salary exceeding 100 million won has been increasing every year. It rose from 197,000 in 2009 to 1,317,000 in 2022, a 6.7-fold increase over 13 years. Total salary refers to the gross salary amount compiled by the NTS, excluding non-taxable income items such as meal expenses.

The number of workers earning hundred million won salaries increased by an average of 65,000 annually from 2009 to 2020. However, in 2021 and 2022, the annual increase exceeded or nearly reached 200,000. This is believed to be influenced by the overall rise in salary levels and the increase in high-wage personnel, especially in global companies.

In particular, the increase in hundred million won salary earners is notable in semiconductor companies. Looking at the average salary of Samsung Electronics employees, it was about 108 million won until 2019, but rose to 127 million won in 2020, 144 million won in 2021, and 135 million won in 2022. SK Hynix's average salary was below 100 million won in 2020 but increased to 134 million won in 2022.

IT companies such as Naver and Kakao also experienced a developer shortage during the COVID-19 period, leading to a sharp rise in average salaries and contributing to the surge in workers earning hundred million won salaries.

As the number of workers earning hundred million won salaries increases, the proportion of income tax they pay is also growing. The share of workers with total salaries exceeding 100 million won in the total determined tax amount was 55.4% in 2018, and this upward trend continued to reach 62.7% in 2022.

As of 2022, the total salary of hundred million won salary earners was 209.8 trillion won, and the total determined tax amount was 37.1 trillion won. Calculating the average income tax for all hundred million won salary earners, about 17.7% of their income is paid as tax.