How does corporate tax work in South Korea for a local company, branch or foreign-owned startup?

Question

I need a South Korea answer that goes beyond one headline percentage. Please explain the current corporate tax brackets, the extra local corporate income tax layer, and why the answer changes when the business is a Korean company instead of a branch of a foreign corporation.

TaxGuided · Accepted Answer

Invest Korea's 2025 tax guide makes the first point very clearly: the corporate tax is progressive, not flat. The current brackets run from 9% up to KRW 200 million, 19% over KRW 200 million up to KRW 20 billion, 21% over KRW 20 billion up to KRW 300 billion and 24% above that level. The same guide also notes that corporate local income tax is filed separately and is roughly 10% of the corporate tax amount.

That means founders who quote only one Korea rate usually leave out a real part of the b

How does corporate tax work in South Korea for a local company, branch or foreign-owned startup?

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What are the current South Korea income tax bands, and when does the 19% foreign-employee flat tax matter?

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