195 workers received over W100m in year-end tax refunds

A total of 195 salaried workers each received more than 100 million won ($73,600) in year-end tax refunds, with their average refund exceeding 300 million won — a figure 2.5 times higher than two years earlier, while the number of such recipients grew 38 percent.

On the other side of the ledger, 1,794 workers were required to pay more than 100 million won in additional taxes.

According to National Tax Service data on year-end settlements of earned income for 2022 through 2024, released Tuesday by Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Jeong Seong-ho of the National Assembly's Finance and Economy Planning Committee, 195 workers received refunds exceeding 100 million won in the 2024 settlement, with total refunds amounting to 59.9 billion won.

The average refund per person came to 307.3 million won.

The number of workers receiving refunds above 100 million won has consistently grown, rising from 141 in the 2022 settlement to 171 in 2023 and 195 in 2024.

Total refunds for those recipients jumped from 24 billion won to 38.9 billion won and then to 59.9 billion won over the same period. The per-person refund nearly doubled, climbing from 170.48 million won to 227.25 million won and then to 307.3 million won.

Of the approximately 21.08 million workers subject to the 2024 year-end settlement, 70.5 percent — about 14.85 million people — received refunds. Total refunds reached 12.59 trillion won.

About 3.77 million workers, or 17.9 percent, were required to pay additional taxes, with total additional payments reaching 4.42 trillion won.

The top 0.1 percent of refund recipients — about 14,855 people — received a combined 440.1 billion won, averaging 29.63 million won each. Their total gross wages, excluding non-taxable income, came to 8.38 trillion won, or an average of 564.2 million won per person.

In the 2024 settlement, 1,794 workers owed more than 100 million won in additional taxes. Their combined additional payments totaled 405.8 billion won, or 226.21 million won per person — meaning 0.05 percent of all additional taxpayers accounted for 9.2 percent of total additional tax payments.

The total number of workers required to make additional payments rose 6.4 percent, from about 3.54 million in the 2023 settlement to about 3.77 million in 2024. Over the same period, total additional tax payments increased 10.2 percent, from 4.01 trillion won to 4.42 trillion won. The average additional payment per person rose for three consecutive years, from 1.08 million won in 2022 to 1.13 million won in 2023 and 1.17 million won in 2024.

For most workers, however, refunds remained in the hundreds of thousands of won. The average refund per person for the 2024 settlement was 847,000 won, but the median refund was just 367,000 won — meaning the average was 2.3 times the median. A small number of high-refund recipients pulled the average upward.

The year-end settlement system compares the income tax withheld from monthly paychecks throughout the year against the actual tax liability calculated the following year, with the difference either refunded or collected. The 2024 settlement was carried out in early 2025.

"Cases of refunds or additional payments exceeding 100 million won are increasing every year," Jeong said. "Tax authorities need to examine why such large gaps are emerging between withheld taxes and actual liabilities at the withholding stage."