# South Korea Tax Residence

Tax residency rule, South Korea. Page: https://usecountr.com/trackers/tax-kr/

## Summary

You are a South Korean tax resident if you have a domicile in Korea, or if you have had a place of residence in Korea for 183 days or more. The 183 days are counted in the tax year, which is the calendar year. For tax years from 1 January 2026, one unbroken stay of 183 days or more that runs across two years also counts. Korea counts from the day after you arrive to the day you leave, and it treats short trips abroad as time in Korea when the trip is clearly temporary. The National Tax Service applies the rule.

- Limit: 183 days or more with a place of residence in Korea
- Period: The tax year, 1 January to 31 December
- New from 2026: One continuous stay of 183 days across two tax years also counts
- A day counts from: The day after you enter Korea, up to the day you leave
- Law: Income Tax Act, article 1-2; Enforcement Decree, articles 2 and 4
- Run by: National Tax Service (NTS)

## Who it applies to

- Foreign employees and teachers who work in Korea for a year or more.
- People who arrive in the second half of a year and stay into the next year.
- Koreans who live abroad and return for long stays with family.
- Business people who divide the year between Korea and another country.
- Long-stay visitors and remote workers who stay for six months or more.

## The rule

Article 1-2 of the Income Tax Act defines a resident as an individual who has a domicile in Korea, or who has had a place of residence in Korea for 183 days or more. Everyone else is a non-resident. A resident is taxed on income from the whole world. A non-resident is taxed only on income from Korea.

Article 2 of the Enforcement Decree explains the two terms. A domicile is judged by the objective facts of your life, such as a family that lives with you in Korea and assets located in Korea. A place of residence is a place where you have lived for a long time without such close ties. You are also treated as having a domicile in Korea if you have a job that normally requires you to live in Korea for 183 days or more, or if you have family in Korea and are likely to stay 183 days or more in view of your job or assets. So a person with a home base in Korea can be resident with very few days.

Article 4 of the Enforcement Decree sets out how the period of residence is counted. It runs from the day after the day you enter Korea to the day you leave. If you leave Korea for a short time and the purpose is clearly temporary, the time abroad is counted as time in Korea. Since a change made in 2025, the Enforcement Rule of the Income Tax Act lists these purposes: short tourism, medical treatment, attending family events such as weddings and funerals, business trips and training for work, and similar reasons.

Until the end of 2025, the 183 days had to fall inside one tax year. For tax years that begin on or after 1 January 2026, a stay of 183 days or more that continues across two tax years also makes you a resident. The decree applies this to income of tax periods that begin on or after 1 January 2026. A foreign resident who has had a domicile or place of residence in Korea for 5 years or less in the last 10 years is taxed on foreign income only when it is paid in Korea or sent to Korea.

Why it exists: Korea taxes residents on worldwide income, so it needs a test for who belongs to the country. The domicile test catches people whose family and assets are in Korea. The 183-day test catches long stays. The 2026 change closes a gap: a person could arrive in July, stay until the next June, be in Korea for almost a year, and still have fewer than 183 days in each calendar year.

## Counting the days

You count the days you had a place of residence in Korea, from the day after you enter to the day you leave. Clearly temporary trips abroad stay in the count.

1. List every entry into Korea and every departure.
2. For each stay, start the count on the day after you arrived and end it on the day you left.
3. Look at each trip abroad between two stays. If its purpose was clearly temporary, such as a short holiday, a family event or a business trip, count those days as days in Korea.
4. Add the days inside one calendar year. With 183 or more, you are a resident for that year.
5. From 2026, also check whether one unbroken stay that runs across the new year reaches 183 days.
6. Check the domicile test, which does not depend on a number of days.

How Countr counts it: Countr lists this rule but does not count it yet. Korea treats short trips abroad as days in Korea when your life stays based there. An app that only sees where you were on each day would show fewer days than the tax office counts, and that would be unsafe. The rule will be counted when the app can handle these trips. When it does, it will also count the day you arrive, which Korea does not count, so it will warn a little early and never late.

## Examples

### A stay inside one calendar year

Emma enters Korea on 10 March 2026 and leaves on 20 September 2026. Korea counts from 11 March, the day after she arrived, to 20 September, the day she left. That is 194 days in the tax year 2026, which is more than 183. Emma is a resident for 2026, and her income from the whole world is in scope, subject to the relief for foreigners with 5 years or less in Korea.

### Short trips abroad that do not help

Minho rents a flat in Seoul and works there all year. In 2026 he makes six trips abroad of 2 weeks each, for holidays and business, which is 84 days outside Korea. On a plain count he is in Korea for 281 days. But these trips are clearly temporary, so the 84 days are counted as time in Korea too. Trips of this kind do not bring a person under 183 days when his life stays based in Korea.

### A stay across the new year

Lucas enters Korea on 1 October 2025 and leaves on 30 April 2026, without a break. Counted from 2 October, he has 91 days in 2025 and 120 days in 2026. Under the old rule he was a non-resident in both years. Under the rule for tax years from 2026, his unbroken stay of 211 days across two tax years makes him a resident. Article 2-2 of the Enforcement Decree says that a non-resident becomes a resident on the day the period of residence reaches 183 days, here 2 April 2026.

## Exceptions

- A person with a domicile in Korea is resident with any number of days.
- Officials, and executives or employees sent abroad by a Korean resident or a Korean company to an overseas office or a wholly owned subsidiary, are treated as residents while they are abroad.
- Foreign residents with 5 years or less of domicile or residence in Korea in the last 10 years are taxed on foreign income only if it is paid in Korea or sent to Korea.
- Time abroad counts as time in Korea when the purpose of the trip is clearly temporary.
- A tax treaty can decide your residence when Korea and another country both treat you as resident.

## Common misconceptions

- "I can stay under 183 days by taking trips abroad." Not if your life stays based in Korea. Clearly temporary trips, such as short holidays, family events and business trips, are counted as time in Korea.
- "The day I arrive counts." Korea starts the count on the day after you enter. The day you leave is counted.
- "The 183 days must fall in one calendar year." That was the rule until the end of 2025. From the 2026 tax year, one unbroken stay of 183 days or more across two years also makes you a resident.
- "Without 183 days I am always a non-resident." A domicile in Korea is enough. A person whose family lives in Korea, or whose job normally requires living in Korea for 183 days or more, is resident from the start.

## Questions and answers

### Is exactly 183 days enough?

Yes. The Income Tax Act says 183 days or more, so the 183rd counted day makes you a resident.

### When did the two-year rule start?

The decree applies it to income of tax periods that begin on or after 1 January 2026. The rule looks at one unbroken stay across two tax years, so a stay that began in 2025 and continued into 2026 can meet it for the 2026 tax year.

### Does a trip abroad for a family wedding or funeral break my stay?

A trip to attend a family event, such as a wedding or a funeral, is one of the purposes that the Enforcement Rule lists as clearly temporary. Such a trip is counted as time in Korea, so it does not break or shorten the count.

### Why does Countr not count this rule yet?

Because Korea counts some days abroad as days in Korea. An app that counts only the days you were physically in the country would show a number that is too low, so the rule waits until the app can handle this.

### I am a foreigner who has lived in Korea for 3 years. Is my foreign income taxed?

Only the part that is paid in Korea or sent to Korea. This relief applies to foreign residents who have had a domicile or place of residence in Korea for 5 years or less in the last 10 years.

### Who decides whether I am a resident?

The National Tax Service decides, and it looks at your whole situation: your family, your job, your assets and your days.

## Sources

- [Korea Law Information Center - Income Tax Act, articles 1-2 and 3 (Korean, current text)](https://www.law.go.kr/%EB%B2%95%EB%A0%B9/%EC%86%8C%EB%93%9D%EC%84%B8%EB%B2%95)
- [Korea Law Information Center - Enforcement Decree of the Income Tax Act, articles 2 to 4 (Korean, current text)](https://www.law.go.kr/%EB%B2%95%EB%A0%B9/%EC%86%8C%EB%93%9D%EC%84%B8%EB%B2%95%EC%8B%9C%ED%96%89%EB%A0%B9)
- [Korea Law Information Center - Enforcement Rule of the Income Tax Act, article 2 (Korean, current text)](https://www.law.go.kr/%EB%B2%95%EB%A0%B9/%EC%86%8C%EB%93%9D%EC%84%B8%EB%B2%95%EC%8B%9C%ED%96%89%EA%B7%9C%EC%B9%99)
- [Korea Legislation Research Institute - Enforcement Decree of the Income Tax Act (English, version of 2023, before the 2026 change)](https://elaw.klri.re.kr/eng_service/lawViewContent.do?hseq=63464)
- [National Tax Service of Korea - English website](https://www.nts.go.kr/english/main.do)

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Countr is an app for iPhone that counts your days in every country for visa, tax and residency rules, from the photos on your phone and your location. It explains rules and counts days. It does not give legal or tax advice. https://apps.apple.com/app/country-days-tracker-countr/id6810720800