
Korean Severance Tax: Why 3 Years Costs 60x More Than 30
On the same 100 million won severance payout, the tax is 14.5 million won after three years of service but only 240,000 won after thirty. The service-year divisor is what splits them.

On the same 100 million won severance payout, the tax is 14.5 million won after three years of service but only 240,000 won after thirty. The service-year divisor is what splits them.

US dividends lose 15% at source and nothing more in Korea — lighter than the 15.4% on Korean dividends. The real split comes at 20 million won of annual financial income.

Convert a CB and the bond disappears; exercise a BW's warrant and the bond stays. On the same 10 billion won raise, the cash reaching the company and the shares created both diverge.

A cash dividend is taxed at 15.4% on arrival; a share cancellation shrinks the share count with no tax at all. Here is the arithmetic behind a 3.3% cancellation lifting EPS by 3.4%, plus a side-by-side after-tax table.

The theoretical ex-rights drop in a Korean shareholder-allocation rights offering equals allocation ratio × discount rate ÷ (1 + allocation ratio). Samsung Biologics' terms — 0.039 and 15% — produce 0.57%.

All three ISA types in Korea share the same tax break. What differs is who controls the portfolio — and the annual fee you pay for handing that control over. Here is what 0.10% and 0.50% cost over five years.

The ex-rights base price for a bonus issue is the last cum-rights close divided by (1 + allotment ratio). Here is why a 0.3-share ratio drops the base price 23.1%, with the decline rate calculated for every common ratio.

Premium/discount measures market price against NAV; tracking error measures the fund's return against its index. From August 19 Korea tightened the domestic ETF threshold to 2%. Here is what a 2% premium actually costs you.

In Korea a performance bonus is wage income whether it is paid in cash or in company shares. Stock is taxed at the closing price on the grant date, and the bill does not shrink if the share price falls afterwards.

Only financial income above 20 million won gets rolled into comprehensive taxation, but health insurance starts counting at 10 million won. A 1-million-won difference can create 480,000 won a year in premiums.