Jessie: January has passed and it's already February.

Pedro: I think time flies quickly when you live here. I'm getting excited just thinking about possibly getting the so-called 13th month's pay.

Huong: The 13th month's income? My coworkers are also talking about it at work. What is it?

Pedro: At the beginning of a new year, Koreans calculate their income taxes for the past year, and either get part of their taxes back or need to pay more. They may or may not get a tax refund, which they call "income from the year's 13th month." Foreign residents who earn income, including those in religious occupations, can also file their income taxes.

Su-hyeon: That's right. Both Korean nationals and foreign residents can file income taxes from mid-January to the end of February every year. They must submit documents to their workplaces to get tax deductions. The more they spent on things eligible for tax breaks, the more likely they are to get tax refunds.

Pedro: As usual, Su-hyeon knows a lot. Huong, you probably don't know this well since you're a new employee. I'll tell you how foreign residents can file their income taxes in Korea.

Huong: That's great. So how does it work?

Pedro: First, you have to look at your expenditures over the past year. If you have health insurance and made payments at a hospital or a pharmacy, you can get a tax refund. You can also get a refund depending on how much you spent last year through cash and debit and credit cards.

Jessie: What about rent? I pay quite a lot of rent every month.

Pedro: Unfortunately, foreign residents are ineligible for a tax refund for rent. But they can get tax breaks for donations or eyeglass purchases, so please meticulously check your expenditures for items eligible for tax breaks. If you have a family that you financially support, you can get tax rebates for spending on things such as your children's education. Just submit to your workplace a document that verifies your family relations.

Su-hyeon: Pedro, you seem like an expert on tax rebates (smiles). But getting the necessary documents seems to be a hassle.

Pedro: Don't worry. It's easy if you use www.hometax.go.kr, a site run by the National Tax Service. Once you make a digital certificate using the ID number on your alien registration card and log in, you can access all your relevant personal information. The categories that apply to you for tax rebates are written in English, but most others are written in Korean. So I recommend getting help from a Korean when using the site for the first time.

Jessie: It must be so convenient to check all of your personal information online. Korea surely is an internet powerhouse.

Pedro: I know, right? You can check and download your personal data. If you find any data missing on the site, you can call the relevant organization and request it.

Su-hyeon: The information is hard to grasp even for locals, yet you explain it in a manner easy to understand.

Pedro: If you want to learn more about the categories that apply to foreign residents for tax refunds, I recommend going to the English website of the National Tax Service: (www.nts.go.kr/eng). It has a guide on year-end tax filing for foreign residents, an auto computing program for tax filing and more, so it's super convenient.