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Leave Korea properly, or not at all.

A Cyprus company pays 15%, and with non-dom status you pay no tax on dividends. Korea allows no half-measures, so you move yourself and the decisions, and settle any departure tax. Then Korean inheritance tax reaches only your Korean property.

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  • Fixed prices
  • Eligibility checked before you pay
  • One team for the Cyprus side
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What you keep, once you've moved.

Korea adds a local income tax to every corporate band, and dividends above ₩20 million are added to your other income. Move the slider to your own profit.

€200,000
In South Korea
Corporate tax
−€44,000
Tax on dividends
−€24,024
You keep
€131,976
In Cyprus
Corporate tax
−€30,000
Health contribution (GeSY)
−€4,505
You keep
€165,495

More in your pocket+€33,519every year

More in your pocket +€33,519 every year

South Korea: 22.0% corporate tax, the 20% national rate plus 2.0% local income tax on profit between ₩200 million and ₩20 billion, then 15.4% on dividends. That 15.4% is a floor. Above ₩20 million a year of interest and dividends, they are added to your other income and taxed at up to 49.5%.

Headline rates for a founder who takes the profit out as dividends and has become Cyprus tax resident with non-dom status. Your own figures will differ. This is an illustration, not tax advice.

What Korea charges on the way out.

Korea charges large shareholders for leaving, and its rules leave no halfway version of the move. Settle these with a Korean adviser before you fly.

  • Departure tax for large shareholders

    If you lived in Korea five or more of the last ten years and held at least 4%, or ₩1 billion, of an unlisted company on the 31 December before you leave, your shares count as sold on departure. Korean shares pay 20 to 25%, foreign shares 10 to 20%.

  • Two filings the day before you fly

    If the departure tax applies, name a tax agent and report a list of your shareholdings to the tax office by the day before you leave. Leave shares off the list and you pay an extra 2% of their face value, which is never refunded, even if the tax is.

  • Run from Seoul, it's Korean

    Korea treats any company really managed from Korea as Korean, taxed on its worldwide profit at up to 27.5%. A Cyprus company you run from Seoul is Korean, and with no treaty nothing breaks the tie. Move yourself first, then the decisions.

  • A CFC line at 17.5%

    Korea's CFC rules tax a foreign company's profit on its Korean owner if it pays 17.5% or less, and Cyprus is 15%. Real substance in Cyprus, or income under ₩200 million, keeps you out. For consulting, finance, property and wholesale, substance may not be enough.

  • No tax treaty with Cyprus

    Korea and Cyprus have a visa agreement and a shipping agreement, but no tax treaty. So Korea's tax on payments to Cyprus isn't cut, and nothing settles it if both countries claim you. Tax offices still share information, so a Cyprus account isn't hidden from Korea.

  • Inheritance tax stops when residence does

    Korea taxes a non-resident's estate only on Korean property, with no waiting period after you leave. Once you've really left, assets outside Korea fall outside a tax that reaches 50%. Korean property and shares in a Korean company stay taxable.

Cyprus, and the EU with it.

A flat 15% with no local tax on top, no tax on dividends as a non-dom, and no inheritance or gift tax.

Corporate tax
15%
One flat rate, with no local surcharges.
Tax on dividends
0%
As a non-dom, for up to 17 years.
Days a year for tax residency
60
Under the 60-day rule, with a home and a business here.
Wealth or inheritance tax
0
Cyprus has neither.
  • Korea isn't in the EU, so the Yellow Slip isn't your route. You need a Pink Slip, the residence permit for non-EU citizens. We file it with you, with a lawyer for complex cases.
  • A Cyprus company has an EU VAT number buyers can check and a euro account inside SEPA, the EU payment area. European customers stop treating you as a foreign supplier.
  • Cyprus is six or seven hours behind Korea. If your customers and team are in Europe, your working day finally overlaps theirs.
  • Directing your own Cyprus company can count towards the 60-day rule. With no treaty, you also have to stop meeting Korea's residence tests, not only meet Cyprus's.

Dates first, then rates.

The departure tax filings come before the flight, and the pension refund follows the emigration report. The order is most of the work.

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  1. First

    Check your shareholder status

    A Korean tax adviser checks whether you were a large shareholder last 31 December, and whether your foreign shares, the Cyprus company included, stay at ₩500 million or less, which keeps them out of the tax. We can recommend one if you need it.

  2. Before you fly

    Tax agent and shareholdings

    By the day before you leave, your adviser names your tax agent and reports the list of your shareholdings, and arranges security if you want to defer the departure tax.

  3. Month 1We do this

    Form the Cyprus company

    We register it with tax, VAT and VIES, and your books open the day you order. You become its director, which counts towards the 60-day rule.

  4. Month 1 to 3We do this

    Apply for your Pink Slip

    Korea isn't in the EU, so you need a Pink Slip. We check which route fits you, prepare the application and file it with you, and bring in a lawyer where the case is complex.

  5. Month 1 to 3

    Report the emigration, then claim

    Your adviser files the emigration report, then claims your National Pension refund. The refund follows the report, not the flight.

  6. Month 3 to 6

    A home and the decisions

    Rent or buy the Cyprus home the 60-day rule needs. Stop deciding in Seoul and record the decisions in Cyprus. This decides whether the company is Cypriot or Korean.

  7. From month 12We do this

    Tax residency and non-dom

    Your adviser files the departure tax return and settles the Korean company. We register your Cyprus tax residency and non-dom status, and keep the board records and filings in order.

The Cyprus side, done for you.

Fixed prices, excl. VAT, agreed before you start. Government fees are charged at cost, on top of our fee, once your application is approved.

Questions Korean founders ask.

Still unsure? Talk to a person on WhatsApp, or book a free call below.

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Only if you're a large shareholder who lived in Korea five or more of the last ten years. Owning at least 4%, or ₩1 billion, of an unlisted company on the 31 December before you leave makes you one. Your shares count as sold on departure, at 20% for Korean shares, or 25% above ₩300 million. You can defer for five years with security and a tax agent, and it's refunded if you return within five years still holding them.

When you no longer have a home base in Korea and spend fewer than 183 days there. Either one keeps you resident. The detailed tests look at where your family and property are, so a family and flat left in Seoul can count against you. Unless the departure tax applies, there is no form to file with the tax office, so check your own case with a Korean adviser.

Usually, once profit passes ₩200 million. Korea charges 11% up to that, which beats Cyprus's 15%, and 22% or more above it. The 15.4% Korean dividend rate is final only while your interest and dividends stay at ₩20 million a year or less. Above that, all of it is added to your other income and taxed at up to 49.5%. With non-dom status, Cyprus charges no tax on dividends.

Not usefully. Korea treats a company managed from Korea as Korean, taxed on its worldwide profit at up to 27.5%, and with no tax treaty nothing breaks the tie. While you live in Korea, its CFC rules can also tax the company's profit on you. Moving yourself comes before moving the company.

No. Under the 60-day rule you can be Cyprus tax resident with 60 days a year here, a home you rent or own, a business or job in Cyprus, and no more than 183 days in any other country. Directing your own Cyprus company can count as the business. With no treaty, you must also stop being Korean resident.

Only your Korean property, once you've really stopped being resident. Residence is tested on the day of death, with no waiting period after you leave, which is rare. Korean property and shares in a Korean company stay taxable whatever your residence. The top rate is 50%. The often quoted 60% applies only to controlling stakes in larger companies. Cyprus has no inheritance or gift tax.

As a Korean national, you can get your contributions back when you emigrate. The refund follows the emigration report, not the flight, so report the emigration, leave, then claim. The right lapses after five years, with a later route at 60. We couldn't confirm whether Korea and Cyprus have a social security agreement, so check before you go.

You decide that with your Korean adviser, in the months after you move. Its shares count for the departure tax, and they stay inside Korean inheritance tax wherever you live. Keeping it as a parent with a European branch or subsidiary means filings in both countries and pricing the invoices between them. One Cyprus company, with you resident behind it, avoids that.

Yes, once you've left Korea. Qualifying income from IP is taxed at an effective 3% in Cyprus. But while you're Korean resident, 3% sits far below Korea's 17.5% CFC line, so the company is easier to catch, not harder. Keep proof of where the development work happened, and move first.

Plan your move with us.

Tell us what you own and when you'd like to move. We'll tell you what applies, what it costs, and what to do first.

  • Which rules at home affect you
  • The order to do things in
  • A fixed price for the Cyprus side

30 minutes, by video, free

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Your move, one partner.

We form your company, apply for your residency with you and keep your books.

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