"YouTubers, Designated Drivers, and Delivery Riders Also Required to File VAT-Exempt Business Operation Status Report"

Report Required by the 10th of Next Month

In 2025, individual business owners engaged in value-added tax (VAT)-exempt businesses must report their annual income (sales), major business expenses, and details regarding facility equipment and employed staff, as well as the overall status of their business operations, by the 10th of the following month.

The National Tax Service announced on the 19th that it will begin sending mobile notifications to 1.67 million VAT-exempt business owners regarding the 2025 business status report starting from the 21st.

VAT-exempt business owners include hospitals and clinics, private academies, wholesalers of agricultural, livestock, and marine products, housing rental and sales businesses, personal service providers such as caddies, entertainers, as well as YouTubers, substitute drivers, and delivery riders.

The National Tax Service has expanded its notification services for those who have difficulty filing taxes, such as YouTubers, by providing guidance for the first time. The notification scale for substitute drivers and delivery riders has also been increased compared to the previous year. Starting from the 2025 reporting period, notification guidance will be provided for the first time to one-person media content creators (such as YouTube and Instagram) who have a statement of business income payments or records of foreign currency receipts. Notification guidance will also be further expanded to personal service providers such as substitute drivers and quick service couriers whose annual service income exceeds a certain amount (24 million won).

The default method of notification is via mobile delivery. However, if delivery fails due to incorrect numbers, unregistered users, or disconnected numbers, or if housing rental business owners are unable to view the notice, a paper notification will be sent again. Recipients must check and read the electronic documents or text messages received via mobile notification and file their report according to their business type.

All individual business owners operating VAT-exempt businesses, including hospitals and clinics, private academies, wholesalers and retailers of agricultural, livestock, and marine products, housing rental business owners, and personal service providers such as caddies, must complete their business status report by February 10.

The National Tax Service provides a variety of information needed for reporting through its 'Reporting Assistance Service' to help prevent mistakes and support accurate filing when preparing the business status report. The Reporting Assistance Service offers information on income reporting for the past three years, industry-specific notes and examples of omitted reports, and provides analysis data for business owners who require guidance based on the results of last year's business status report verification. In particular, for personal service providers such as caddies, substitute drivers, and quick service couriers who lack reporting experience, as well as one-person media content creators receiving the notification for the first time this year, a convenience feature (pre-filled service) is available to automatically populate their income amount.

A National Tax Service official stated, "By submitting the business status report, you can receive customized guidance such as the 'auto-filled' service and various other conveniences when filing your comprehensive income tax return in May. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to submit your business status report," adding, "Please note that failure to submit or underreporting may result in additional penalties for non-compliance."