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Corporate Tax Act — Article 4 (Scope of taxable income)

법인세법 제4조

This English translation is based on the Korean text effective 2025-03-14. The Korean law has since been amended (current version effective 2026-07-01) — check the Korean original.

(1) Corporate tax shall be imposed on the following income of a domestic corporation; provided, it shall be limited to the income specified in subparagraphs 1 and 3 in cases of non-profit domestic corporations:

1. Income for each business year;

2. Liquidation income;

3. Capital gains from the transfer of land, etc. referred to in Article 55-2.

(2) In applying paragraph (1) 1, the income of a consolidated corporation for each business year means the income for each consolidated business year referred to in Article 76-14 (1).

(3) In applying paragraph (1) 1, the income of a non-profit domestic corporation for each business year shall be limited to the income accruing from any of the following business or revenues (hereinafter referred to as "profit-making business"):

1. Business specified by Presidential Decree among business engaging in manufacturing, construction, wholesale, retail sales, repair of consumer products, real estate, rental, or business services;

2. Interest income as prescribed in Article 16 (1) of the Income Tax Act;

3. Dividend income as prescribed in Article 17 (1) of the Income Tax Act;

4. Revenues accruing from the transfer of stocks, preemptive right to new stocks, or investment shares;

5. Revenues accruing from the disposal of tangible and intangible assets; provided, the revenues specified by Presidential Decree, among revenues accruing from the disposal of assets directly used for essential business activities, shall be excluded;

6. Revenues accruing from the transfer of assets prescribed in Article 94 (1) 2 and 4 of the Income Tax Act;

7. Revenues prescribed by Presidential Decree, which accrues from continuing activities be paid, other than those referred to in subparagraphs 1 through 6.

(4) Corporate tax shall be imposed on the following income of a foreign corporation:

1. Income accrued from domestic sources for each business year;

2. Capital gains from the transfer of land, etc. referred to in Article 95-2.

(5) In applying paragraph (4) 1, income accrued from domestic sources of a non-profit foreign corporation for each business year shall be limited to the income accruing from profit-making business.[This Article Wholly Amended on Dec. 24, 2018][Moved from Article 3, Previous Article 4 is Deleted. <Dec. 24, 2018>]

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