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South Korea VAT Rates 2026

South Korea (대한민국 (Daehan Minguk)) levies Value Added Tax under the name 사업자등록번호 (Saeopja Deungrok Beonho — Business Registration Number). The standard rate is 10%, applied to most goods and services. Reduced rates of 0% apply to essential categories including food, medicines, and cultural services.

Access rates via API

The TaxID API returns current VAT rates for all 27 EU countries. Use the /api/v1/rates/KR endpoint to get South Korea rates programmatically. Responses are cached for 24 hours.

curl http://localhost:3000/api/v1/rates/KR
# No authentication required for rate lookups

# Response:
# { "country_code": "KR", "standard_rate": 10,
#   "reduced_rates": [0], "currency": "KRW" }

Applying the correct rate in code

For B2B intra-EU sales, validate the customer's VAT number first. A valid registration means reverse charge applies — you charge 0% and the customer self-accounts. For B2C, charge the South Korea standard rate.

// 1. Validate the customer's South Korea VAT number
const vatCheck = await fetch(
  'http://localhost:3000/api/v1/validate/KR/CUSTOMER_VAT',
  { headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' } }
).then(r => r.json());

// 2. Fetch current South Korea VAT rates (no auth required)
const rates = await fetch('http://localhost:3000/api/v1/rates/KR').then(r => r.json());
// → { standard_rate: 10, reduced_rates: [0] }

// 3. Apply the correct VAT treatment
if (vatCheck.valid) {
  // B2B intra-EU: reverse charge — you invoice 0%, customer self-accounts
  applyRate(0, 'reverse_charge');
} else {
  // B2C: charge the South Korea standard rate
  applyRate(rates.standard_rate, 'standard');
}

About South Korea VAT

South Korea applies a flat 10% VAT (부가가치세) with no reduced rates. The 10-digit Business Registration Number is formatted as XXX-XX-XXXXX. Korea is a major technology market; companies like Samsung, LG, Kakao, and Naver require VAT validation for B2B transactions.

The South Korea 사업자등록번호 is administered by the national tax authority and validated through the EU VIES system. Before applying any VAT rate or zero-rate exemption to a South Korea business customer, validate their VAT registration number first.

VAT rates in other EU countries