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Canadian Tax vs Korean Tax

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A couple of weeks ago I started working at a web agency in Toronto and am really enjoying my job. It’s exactly what I wanted to do and the people are great.

Today I got paid for my first two weeks of work. Taxes in Canada are freaking insane. My gross monthly salary is more than I was getting in Korea. But what was surprising to me is that two weeks taxes are significantly more than the taxes I paid for a full months pay back in Korea.

The result is that my net salary is only marginally more than I was making in Korea despite my gross salary being significantly more. People ask why some expats stay in Korea so long on what they perceive as a low wage. Well the key is that the taxes are so much lower that the net wage is approximately equal to a much higher gross salary.

Also one needs to factor in other things like hours worked, vacation time and how much cheaper it is to eat out in Korea and get a healthier lunch for at a better price than one would get in Canada. With all the extra time available as a university teacher in Korea it’s easy to double your monthly wage or more by working on the side.

Taxes and tips are just insane. Plus it is impossible to eat for less than $9 at lunch not including tax or tip.

End result – if I didn’t have kids, I would have stayed in Korea and been much better off.

Having said that, I am enjoying life in Canada. Having a backyard for the kids is great and the air is much cleaner.

I know I rambled a little, but just deal with it.

Aug 31, 2011 Comments(4) Save on Facebook
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Comments

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surprisesaplenty: Thursday Sep 1, 2011  at  04:57 PM Korea (South)

I think this sentence needs editing:

“My gross monthly salary is more than I was getting in Korea. But what was surprising to me is that two weeks taxes are significantly more than the taxes I paid for a full months pay back in Canada.”

I think the last word should be “Korea”.

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Paulie: Thursday Sep 1, 2011  at  10:24 PM China

Hopefully I’m reading this wrong, but you sounded a little angry/frustrated in this post. A little reverse culture shock?

I gotta say, lately, I’ve been having a real good hate-on with respect to Korea. These days, I would love nothing more than Canadian quiet-ish neighborhoods, law-abiding drivers, trash-free streets, spit-free sidewalks, etc. The lack of considerate people here is slowly driving me bonkers. Just the other day, some asshat near our place had his car alarm go off every few minutes for hours on end. I went outside, walked around the neighborhood, found the car, got the license plate number, and called the cops. The cops, on the phone, asked my wife to deal with it, because they had sent a police car around our neighborhood, and they couldn’t friggin’ find the car. The cops said “we don’t have all day to look for a car”. Friggin awesome, cop dudes.

And remember that you get free healthcare (among other benefits). I know it doesn’t help when you look at your payslip and see all those $ taken off in taxes, but would you rather be paying health insurance?

Picture of Sean

Sean: Friday Sep 2, 2011  at  05:27 AM Canada

Paul,

Yeah a little reverse culture shock. I expected to pay more taxes but not as much as I am. Also it’s paying monthly rent which is eating up 50% of my net income that’s really killing me.

Paying for health insurance? I kind of liked the Korean system where it’s a combination of the Canadian and American system - felt like the best of both without the negatives of either.

Korean police = Keystone Kops.

Picture of Sean

Sean: Friday Sep 2, 2011  at  05:28 AM Canada

Brian will edit the text now - thanks for the catch.

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