Cash Receipts in Korea for Foreigners: How 현금영수증 Works and When You Need It

When a cashier asks “현금영수증 필요하세요?” after you pay cash, they are asking about a tax cash receipt. It records the payment in Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) system. Your registered phone number, cash-receipt card or barcode identifies whose transaction it is.

An ordinary 영수증 proves what you bought; a 현금영수증 also creates the tax record. You can ask for both. Whether the tax record reduces your tax depends on your circumstances.

Article reviewed: October 16, 2026. Specific facts checked against official sources are cited below. The foreign-worker eligibility source covers the 2025 tax year; a retrieval date does not certify every rule for the 2026 tax-year return. This guide provides general information, not an individual tax calculation.

Illustration only. The pictured phone-number requirement does not certify every current authentication route. Follow the current service’s requested checks and the text below; deduction eligibility depends on tax status and filing year.

First, choose the situation that applies to you

• A salaried Korean tax resident using ordinary progressive taxation: qualifying personal spending can count toward the credit-card and cash-receipt income deduction, subject to thresholds, exclusions and caps.
• A nonresident for Korean income-tax purposes: the credit-card/cash-receipt spending deduction is unavailable. Having a Residence Card or a Korean number does not by itself settle your tax-residency status.
• A foreign worker electing the special 19% national income-tax method: the ordinary spending deduction does not apply under that method. Eligibility and the election should be checked with payroll.
• A business owner, freelancer or employee claiming a company expense: you may need 지출증빙용 business evidence. Follow the business’s accounting or reimbursement requirements.
• A short-term tourist without Korean taxable wage income: you generally have no employee deduction to claim. An ordinary receipt may meet your needs; tourist VAT refunds use a separate process.

Official eligibility evidence, checked October 16, 2026: NTS foreign-worker year-end settlement guidance, published January 7, 2026, especially comparison table 3 and FAQ 12. Tax residence considers a Korean address or a place of residence for 183 days; the guidance also explains how those tests are assessed. Ask payroll or NTS if your status is unclear.

Set up your cash-receipt identifier

1. Log in to Hometax or Sontax (손택스), the mobile Hometax service.
2. Find the consumer issuance-method screen. The NTS desktop route is 계산서·영수증·카드 → 현금영수증(근로자·소비자) → 소비자 발급수단·전용카드 → 현금영수증 발급용 휴대전화번호/카드관리. In Sontax, look for 소비자 발급수단 관리. Search that Korean menu name if the layout changes.
3. Register the phone number you will give stores. Complete the identification checks requested by the current service. Confirm that your foreign-resident identity details match the records used for verification.
4. After registration, use that identifier when paying cash. If you change numbers, update Hometax; the official screen says history lookup after a change is available from the following day.

Public guidance rechecked October 27, 2026: NTS identifier-registration and missing-record FAQ (published November 11, 2020; current displayed instructions) confirms the named desktop menu and next-day lookup. If menus differ or an identity check fails, search the Korean menu name or ask NTS. Individual login and registration were not tested.

If you do not want to say your number aloud, ask whether you can enter it on the terminal. A registered cash-receipt card or the NTS mobile cash-receipt barcode is another option when the store supports it. See NTS cash-receipt reporting information and the official service’s current menu for help with a disputed transaction.

At the checkout: personal deduction or business evidence?

For your own personal cash purchase, say:

현금영수증 소득공제용으로 해 주세요.
Please issue a cash receipt for personal income deduction.

Give the number registered as your cash-receipt identifier. For example, after paying ₩40,000 at a restaurant, an eligible employee can have that cash payment linked to their tax record. A receipt does not guarantee a deduction or refund.

For an approved business purchase, say 지출증빙용으로 해 주세요 and provide the business registration number instructed by the business. Do not use your employer’s number for unrelated personal purchases. NTS distinguishes 현금(소득공제) for consumers from 현금(지출증빙) for business customers. NTS issuance instructions, checked October 16, 2026.

Cash-type payments can include bank transfers to a business; a transfer confirmation alone does not show that a tax cash receipt was issued. For a ₩350,000 moving-service payment, request the appropriate receipt, retain the transfer record and check the tax record afterward. A normal credit-card or debit-card purchase uses the card record; do not request an additional cash receipt for the same card payment.

What the 30% deduction rate means

The NTS consumer guidance checked on October 16, 2026 lists an ordinary cash-receipt/debit-card income-deduction rate of 30%, compared with 15% for ordinary credit-card spending. The combined qualifying spending must exceed 25% of total salary before this deduction starts. Special categories have their own rules.

For a ₩40 million salary, that threshold is ₩10 million. Spending below it does not produce this particular deduction. Spending above it is calculated by payment type and category, with exclusions and limits. ₩1 million of cash receipts does not mean a ₩300,000 refund. An income deduction reduces taxable income; the final tax saving depends on the tax calculation and amounts already withheld.

The same NTS page lists basic deduction caps of ₩3 million for total salary up to ₩70 million and ₩2.5 million above ₩70 million, plus possible additional limits for qualifying categories such as traditional markets, public transport and cultural or sports spending. Confirm the rules for your filing year with payroll before relying on a cap or calculator.

Official evidence, checked October 16, 2026: NTS deduction conditions. This is the consumer guidance retrieved for this review, not a completed review of every 2026 tax-law amendment.

If you use the foreign-worker 19% flat-tax method

The special foreign-worker regime is an election for qualifying workers, not the default for every foreign employee. The NTS January 2026 guidance says that choosing it excludes the ordinary income deductions, reductions and tax credits, including the spending deduction discussed here. Keeping a receipt still documents the transaction, but it does not create that personal deduction under the flat-tax calculation.

Ask payroll: 외국인근로자 19% 단일세율을 적용하고 있나요? — “Am I using the 19% flat tax for foreign workers?” Ask which method will be used at year-end and have payroll compare your options if you are eligible.

Checked October 16, 2026: NTS January 7, 2026 guidance, flat-rate section and FAQ 4–6. NTS downloadable foreign-worker guide; the findings above use the readable January 2026 publication page.

If the store issued it without your number

A receipt showing 010-000-1234 uses the NTS designated code for 자진발급, meaning the merchant issued it without identifying the consumer. It is not your own phone number.

1. Keep the receipt, including its 승인번호 (approval number), 발급일 (issue date shown on the receipt) and 사용금액 (amount).
2. From the day after you receive the receipt, use 자진발급분 소비자 등록. NTS's public guide lists this consumer-registration menu in both Hometax and Sontax.
3. Enter the receipt's issue date (발급일), approval number and amount, and check the transaction details before completing consumer registration through the current form.
4. If you cannot identify or register the transaction, use NTS's public ARS alternative, 126-1-1, or ask NTS for help. Check that the receipt appears in your history after processing.

Public guidance rechecked October 27, 2026: NTS anonymous-issuance and consumer-registration FAQ (published November 11, 2020; current displayed instructions). The merchant’s five-day self-issuance deadline is separate from this consumer-registration procedure. Exact signed-in buttons were not tested.

When a business must issue a receipt without being asked

For a business in a designated mandatory-issuance industry, a cash transaction of ₩100,000 or more, including VAT, requires a cash receipt even if the customer does not request it. When the customer does not want one or their identity is unknown, the merchant must use the NTS designated code within five days of receiving the cash. The industry classification matters; do not assume every cash transaction falls under this mandatory rule.

A cash discount does not remove an applicable issuance duty. If there is a dispute, keep the ordinary receipt, transfer record, contract, order confirmation or messages.

Checked October 16, 2026: NTS issuance duty and industry list, including categories effective January 1, 2026. Earlier-cited NTS cash-receipt announcement is retained as a reference; its stated industry total was not independently revalidated in this review.

Check your history and resolve missing records

In Hometax or Sontax, look for 현금영수증 사용내역 조회. NTS explains that receipt providers transmit transaction details to the tax authority on the day after the transaction, once daily. A payment made minutes ago may not yet appear. NTS system overview and daily transmission flow, rechecked October 27, 2026. The system covers cash payments from ₩1; this is an issuance threshold, not a guarantee of tax eligibility.

• You gave your number, but no record appears: check the number on the receipt, its Hometax registration, whether processing has completed, and whether the shop actually issued a tax cash receipt. If you recently changed numbers, check the updated identifier and next-day lookup guidance.
• A receipt was issued under 010-000-1234: use the consumer-registration steps above.
• No receipt was issued because you did not request one or the seller was not a cash-receipt merchant: NTS provides 현금거래 확인신청. Submit transaction evidence for an eligible good or service; the tax office must confirm it. The stated five-year application window applies to transactions from February 28, 2022. This route is not a request to backdate a merchant receipt. NTS cash-transaction confirmation, checked October 16, 2026.
• The seller refused, falsely issued or canceled a receipt against your wishes, or failed a mandatory duty: use the appropriate refusal/non-issuance report. NTS gives a five-year reporting period from the act. Hometax: 상담·불복·제보 → 현금영수증·신용카드 미발급/발급거부. Sontax: 상담·불복·고충·제보·기타 → 현금영수증·신용카드 미발급/발급거부 제보. NTS reporting requirements, checked October 16, 2026.

If your identity or access problem remains unresolved, use NTS support rather than registering someone else’s number. The NTS foreign-worker guidance lists 1588-0560 for English tax assistance; general NTS service is 126.

Useful phrases

• 현금영수증 해 주세요. — Please issue a cash receipt.
• 소득공제용으로 해 주세요. — For personal income deduction, please.
• 지출증빙용으로 해 주세요. — For business expense evidence, please.
• 휴대폰 번호로 해도 되나요? — Can I use my phone number?
• 현금영수증 발급됐나요? — Was the cash receipt issued?
• 영수증도 주세요. — Please give me the receipt too.

Related AllThingsK8282 guides

• Korea SIM for Residents: Residence Card, MVNO, and Verification — check identity-verification prerequisites.
• Korean Digital Certificates for Foreigners — understand the login and signing methods a service offers.
• How to Use Government24 in Korea as a Foreigner — another public-service access guide.
• Can Foreign Residents Open KakaoBank? Salary Account Alternatives — distinguish banking access from cash-receipt registration.
• Claiming Work Expenses in Korea — use the right evidence for an employer reimbursement.

For tourist shopping and the separate VAT-refund topic, see Shopping in Korea: Stores, Markets, and Tax Refunds.

Verification scope: Article structure, all text and links were reviewed on October 16, 2026. Official public pages were checked for deduction mechanics, foreign-worker exceptions, identifier requirements, anonymous registration, issuance duties, record timing and reporting routes. No personal Hometax login, receipt registration, tax return or refund calculation was performed. Related-guide URLs were matched to the current published-post inventory. Confirm your tax year and personal eligibility with payroll or NTS.

Updated October 28, 2026: Linked the directly readable NTS cash-receipt procedures, clarified registration and next-day transmission without certifying personal login steps, and matched self-issued receipt registration to the issue date shown on the receipt rather than a potentially different transaction date. Existing artwork and unavailable downloadable-source limits remain. Added a scope note for the illustration’s phone-number wording.