12.85 Million Required to File
National Tax Service Grants Three-Month Automatic Extension for Wildfire Victims and Others
Individuals with comprehensive income in 2024 must file and pay their comprehensive income tax and individual local income tax by June 2, 2025.
The National Tax Service announced on April 28 that it is sending out "Pre-filled Notification Letters," which provide pre-calculated figures from total income to tax amount, to 6.33 million people. In particular, for 4.43 million people who are eligible for a comprehensive income tax refund, the agency is sending out "Pre-filled (Refund) Notification Letters."
Taxpayers who receive a Pre-filled Notification Letter can complete their filing without visiting a tax office, by using ARS phone service or the Hometax (PC) and Sontax (mobile) platforms.
To make filing more convenient, the National Tax Service will operate a dedicated "File Income Tax" screen on Hometax and Sontax throughout May. When users log in to Hometax or Sontax, their designated filing type is automatically displayed, allowing them to proceed to a customized filing screen. Taxpayers who receive a Pre-filled Notification Letter can simply check their payment (or refund) amount and click the "File" button to complete the process easily.
If "Mobile Filing" is selected in the mobile Pre-filled Notification Letter, users are taken directly to the Sontax filing screen. If "ARS Filing" is selected, they can file using the ARS screen that appears.
After submitting the filing, taxpayers can pay by transferring funds to the provided virtual account, by credit card, or via simple payment methods. They can also print a payment slip and pay at a financial institution. If the tax amount due exceeds 10 million won, part of the amount can be paid in installments within two months from the payment deadline.
The National Tax Service has excluded dependents who do not meet the requirements for personal deductions from the Pre-filled Notification Letters. If a filer enters a person who does not qualify for the deduction as a dependent, an alert message is provided so that the filer can double-check. Taxpayers who receive notification are encouraged to review the eligibility of dependents for personal deductions once again to prevent unintended improper deductions and additional tax penalties.
To support recovery for 140,000 people affected by disasters, including those in special disaster areas such as wildfires in Gyeongsang Province and victims and bereaved families of the Jeju Air accident, the National Tax Service will automatically extend the comprehensive income tax payment deadline to September 1, 2025, without requiring a separate application or tax collateral. In addition, for those not covered by the automatic extension, if they apply for an extension due to business difficulties or other reasons, the agency will actively review such requests.
Taxpayers who file and pay comprehensive income tax must also file and pay individual local income tax with their local government (city, county, or district) within the same period. Once comprehensive income tax filing is completed on Hometax or Sontax, the filing information is automatically linked to Wetax, allowing taxpayers to file their individual local income tax at the same time.
If there are no corrections to be made to the Pre-filled Notification Letter, taxpayers do not need to access Wetax; payment to the virtual account for local income tax listed in the notification will be recognized as filing. In addition, to support economic stability, the payment deadline for individual local income tax will be extended to match the comprehensive income tax deadline for taxpayers experiencing business difficulties.
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