Housing Subscription Savings Deduction in Korea — Why It Is Often Zero (and Usually for Foreigners)

The conditions

Condition	Detail
Who	Head of a household that owns no home; from 2025 the spouse of such a head also qualifies
Income	Gross salary up to 70 million KRW
Limit	Up to 3 million KRW paid in per year (raised from 2.4 million)
Rate	40% of payments, so at most 1.2 million KRW deducted from income
Paperwork	A no-home confirmation submitted to the bank that holds the account

This guide is general tax information and a walk-through of how the numbers work, not tax advice. Deduction rules change every year and depend on your residency status and situation. Confirm what applies to you with the National Tax Service (Hometax year-end settlement preview and simplified service, NTS helpline 126) and your employer’s payroll or HR team. The app’s result is an estimate covering major items only and has no legal effect.

Foreign employees

According to NTS guidance reported for the year-end settlement, foreign workers who are tax residents can claim most deductions that Korean nationals can, with the housing-savings deduction as an exception. If you are a foreign employee, assume this line is zero unless HR or the NTS confirms otherwise for your case. Holding the account can still matter for the housing lottery itself, which is a separate question.

Why it comes out at zero

You are a household member, not the head (common for young workers registered at a parent’s address).
The no-home confirmation was never submitted to the bank.
Gross salary went over 70 million KRW that year, even through a bonus.
Someone in the household owns a home.
The item is missing from the documents you gave HR.

Closing the account within a set period after claiming the deduction can trigger repayment of the tax saved. Check with the bank before closing.

Checking it in the app

Basic info with the Homeless head of household checkbox and housing savings field — Checkbox

Tick the box and enter payments

Tick “Homeless head of household” and enter annual payments under “Housing subscription savings”. Untick it, or enter a gross salary above 70 million, and the app calculates zero. Foreign employees who do not qualify should leave it unticked.

Breakdown with a housing-savings deduction of 1,200,000 KRW — Housing-savings line

Look at the housing-savings line

In the example, 5 million KRW was entered but only 3 million counts, so the line shows a 1,200,000 KRW deduction.

The app’s English screens show amounts with the Korean won sign, and the saved-scenario card keeps a few Korean labels in the current version.

FAQ

How much does 3 million KRW of payments save?

For a single worker on 40 million KRW, the app estimates about 198,000 KRW including local tax. It depends on your tax bracket.

Does paying more than 3 million help?

Not for tax. Only up to 3 million KRW a year counts.

Sources: Daily NTN, housing-savings limit raised to 3M KRW (Korean) · Korea Tax Times, year-end settlement for foreign workers (Korean)

Year-End Tax Calculator

No sign-up, works offline, and your salary data stays on your phone. Free on Android, in English and Korean.

Get it on Google Play