Make company seal
Agency: Seal maker
Company seal must be made upon registration of establishment of new company. Business founders can make a company seal at the seal maker for approximately KRW 30,000. A company seal can either be made online or at a seal maker’s shop and is in most cases ordered at a shop.
Time and cost: 1 day, KRW 30,000
Register the company with Start-Biz and pay incorporation fees
Agency: Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA)
Start Biz Online (www.startbiz.go.kr), has combined the Internet Register Office, the Local Tax Payment System, the Electronic Notarization System, the National Tax Information System, the Financial Common Network, and the Social Insurance Information System which are independently run, for the purpose of incorporation. Start Biz Online allows its users to process the entire incorporation process online, including checking the availability of trade name and obtain a certificate of name availability, opening a bank statement from a bank, filing the application package for incorporation and obtaining a corporate registration tax bill, register the company and obtaining a certificate of seal impression of corporation, registering and getting a tax identification number (TIN), submitting the rules of employment, and registering electronically for the Public Health Insurance Program, the National Pension Fund, Employment Insurance, and Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance.
Name verification is typically conducted prior to applying for registration. This can be done online, with no approval or verification by authorities. After checking the company name, uploading incorporation documents as well as filling company information, applicants can process to the payments for the corporate registration tax bill as well as the registration fee. Since applicant has already filled in the company information, there is no need to fill in separate forms for the payments. They will be automatically directed to the payment pages where they can make all payments, and re-directed to the Start-biz system once the payments are completed.
In most of the cases, it takes 3 days to obtain the certificate of incorporation from the Start-Biz system. During this period, the court registry office reviews the documents and information provided by the applicants, and due diligence of company address is conducted by the tax office. After registration, company needs to physically visit the authority to pick up the hard copy of the incorporation documents.
Time and cost: 3 days, KRW 2,000 fee of e-registration+ 1.2% capital registration tax + education tax (20% of the registration tax) + KRW 20,000 (e-registration form)
Register with the tax office
Agency: National Tax Service
Following the completion of its court registration, a company is required to register with the appropriate tax office pursuant to the Corporation Tax Law (Article 111) and the Value Added Tax Law. The filing should be made no later than 20 days from the commencement of the business by the company. This can be done either by visiting the tax office or by submitting information online at www.hometax.go.kr . The following documents need to be provided:
- Registration application;
- Article of Incorporation;
- Certificate of the commercial registry;
- Lease agreement for the office;
- Certificate of the corporate seal;
- Corporate seal;
- Permit (in the case of a business that requires any);
- PoA and ID card of the representative director;
- proof of funds and its origin (e.g., copy of tax return or a loan agreement).
Tax office personnel may visit the company to confirm physical existence of the premises or call the office and confirm it through an employee. However, such visits are not frequent.
Time and cost: 4 days, no charge
