Electronic invoicing guide
South Korea

Since 2014, all taxpayers whose sales exceed KRW 300 million (USD 264.5 thousand) per year must issue their VAT invoices electronically in real-time.

The invoices must be sent to the National Tax Service (NTS).

From 1 July 2022, the threshold will be lowered to KRW 200,000,000 (around $160,000). The South Korean tax authority has also announced from 1 July 2023 the threshold will be reduced further to KRW 100,000,000 (around $83,000).

VAT registered businesses are required to submit their invoices to the tax authorities through the National Tax Service (NTS) in one of the following ways:
• Uploading invoices via the free portal provided by the tax office
• Using an outsourced, licensed e-invoice service provider
• Creating their own e-invoices via their accounting system with a digital certificate
• Using the AVRS telephone system
• Submitting in-person at a local tax office
• Businesses wishing to issue tax invoices must first obtain a digital certificate. To issue the e-Tax invoice, they will need their customers’ tax registration certificate for matching the invoice to a customer. The tax invoice is sent to the customer by email.

The transmission of an e-Tax invoice to the NTS should follow immediately after its issuance. However, issued e-Tax invoices may also be summarized and transferred monthly – by the 10th of the following month at the latest (if the 10th is a Saturday or public holiday, by the next working day).

In the event that the supplier does not issue a tax invoice or issues another form (i.e. tax invoice in paper form), a penalty of 2% of the value of the delivery must be paid by both contracting parties. If the supplier fails to send an issued e-Tax invoice to NTS by the 10th of the following month at the latest, a penalty of 1% of the delivery value will be imposed.