By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter
Korea seems to be nearing gender equality in terms of tax payments. The number of females who filed comprehensive income tax returns breached 40 percent.
According to the National Tax Service (NTS), the number of females who filed comprehensive income tax returns totaled 1.4 million for 2008, or 40.3 percent of the total. It is the first time for females to make up over 40 percent of taxpayers.
Comprehensive income tax is levied on a variety of income, including wages, interest income, income from dividends or rent, and business income.
As more females become economically active, the ratio of female taxpayers is also rising. It stood at 34.6 percent in 2004, and has risen continuously each year, topping 40 percent in 2008. They filed less than 10 trillion won in income for 2005, but the income filed by females was more than 20 trillion won in 2008. They paid a combined 2.1 trillion won in taxes on their income.
The ratio of female taxpayers rose steeply among the top income bracket. The number of females among the top 30 percent of the comprehensive income tax payers totaled 282,000 as of 2008, marking 26.4 percent of the total. In 2005, the ratio of high income females was 22.8 percent.
Women in the top 10 percent for comprehensive income totaled 68,000, having doubled in the last three years. It means the number of females is rapidly climbing in high income professions such as doctors or lawyers.
The rising ratio of female comprehensive income tax payers has to do with the increasing number of females with higher degrees or those dedicated to professional jobs. Among those who will graduate from the Judicial Research & Training Institute this year, 34.2 percent are female. One has to attend the institute to become a lawyer, judge or prosecutor. Around half the students at medical schools are female.