Korean ISA Calculator — Tax-free + 9.9% Separate Tax

Individual Savings Account — Korea's tax-advantaged investment account. You can hold deposits, savings, domestic stocks, domestic ETFs, foreign-asset ETFs, REITs, ELS, and more in one account. At maturity, all gains and losses are netted, the tax-free limit is deducted, and only the excess is taxed at a flat 9.9% — vs. 15.4% for a standard account. Korean residents aged 19+ can open one (or 15-18 with prior earned income).

Tax-free limit. General is ₩2M; Low-income (prior-year salary ≤ ₩50M or comprehensive income ≤ ₩38M) and Farmer (agricultural worker with comprehensive income ≤ ₩38M) get ₩4M. You submit eligibility proof at signup. If unsure, start with General — you can switch in a year you qualify.

₩20M per year, ₩100M lifetime. Unused annual room rolls forward (e.g., if you only deposit ₩10M in year 1, year 2 allows ₩30M). This calculator auto-caps your monthly input against the annual limit and warns you when applicable. After hitting ₩100M lifetime, additional contributions are excluded from the simulation.

Two effects compound. ① Tax-free up to ₩2M/₩4M, ② Excess is taxed 5.5pp lower (9.9% vs 15.4%). Plus, in a standard account, financial income above ₩20M/year triggers comprehensive taxation (added to your other income at marginal rates up to 45%); ISA income is separate and excluded from this. The bigger your gains, the more disproportionate the savings.

ISA settles all profits and losses inside the account at maturity. In a standard account, +₩5M on stock A and −₩3M on stock B still taxes the +₩5M gain. ISA only taxes the +₩2M net. This calculator uses a single rate-of-return assumption, so real-world ISA savings can exceed what's shown here.

Tax benefits are clawed back — gains are taxed at the standard 15.4%. Partial withdrawal of principal (up to deposited amount) is allowed without penalty. After 3 years you can fully close and immediately reopen, which resets the tax-free quota for a new cycle.

Brokerage-type ISA: Korean stocks, Korean ETFs, Korean REITs, deposits, savings, funds, ELS. Direct US stock investing is NOT allowed, but Korea-listed US-tracking ETFs (e.g., TIGER S&P500, KODEX Nasdaq100) are. Discretionary type is broker-managed, trust type is conservative, brokerage type lets you trade freely. Most asset-builders pick brokerage + Korea-listed US ETFs.

Yes. Within 60 days of ISA maturity, you can transfer up to 10% of the rollover amount (max ₩3M) into IRP/pension savings for an extra tax credit on top of the regular ₩9M annual pension limit. Combined with later pension-income tax (3.3-5.5% on withdrawal), this creates a 3-stage tax-saving path: ISA → IRP → retirement income.

Yes. ₩100M at 3.5% for 5 years yields ~₩17.5M interest. Standard account taxes 15.4% (~₩2.7M); ISA general taxes ₩2M-free + 9.9% on the rest (~₩1.5M) — saving ~₩1.2M. Low-income type doubles that. Note: ISA-eligible deposit rates may be slightly lower than market — compare before signing up.

No. Korea's 2026 ISA reform proposal (₩40M annual / ₩200M lifetime / ₩10M tax-free) hasn't been finalized, and existing accounts will likely be grandfathered. More importantly, the 3-year holding clock starts at signup — opening now means whatever reform passes, you'll be fully eligible in 3 years. Even partial monthly contributions are fine; starting early matters most.