Country deep dive
South Korea's e-Tax Invoice system is the most mature mandate in this tracker: mandatory for all corporations since January 2011, then extended to individual entrepreneurs via a revenue threshold that has fallen in stages ever since — KRW 1 billion (2012) → 300 million (2014) → 200 million (2022) → 100 million (2023, alongside the introduction of self-billing invoices) → 80 million (2024), the lowest yet.
South Korea required all corporate taxpayers to issue Value-Added Tax invoices electronically and report them to the National Tax Service (NTS) by the next business day. This is a post-issuance reporting model, not a clearance model: the invoice takes legal effect once delivered to the buyer, and next-day transmission to the NTS is a separate reporting obligation rather than a precondition for the invoice's validity.
The e-Tax Invoice mandate extended beyond corporations to individual entrepreneurs (sole proprietors) with annual supply value exceeding KRW 1 billion -- the first of what would become a series of threshold reductions steadily widening the mandate's reach over the following decade.
The revenue threshold bringing individual entrepreneurs into the e-Tax Invoice mandate fell from KRW 1 billion to KRW 300 million, the first of several reductions that would continue through the 2020s.
The revenue threshold fell again, from KRW 300 million to KRW 200 million, bringing a wider band of individual entrepreneurs into the mandatory e-Tax Invoice system -- part of a sustained multi-year push toward near-universal coverage.
The individual-entrepreneur threshold fell to KRW 100 million, and the NTS introduced self-billing invoices: where a supplier is unable to issue an e-Tax Invoice, the buyer may create one instead for VAT-taxable supplies, subject to confirmation by a district tax office.
The individual-entrepreneur threshold fell again to KRW 80 million in prior-year supply, the lowest level since the mandate first extended beyond corporations in 2012. This is the current threshold as of this tracker's last update; further reductions are widely expected to continue the trend toward universal coverage, though no further specific date has been legislated yet.
e-Tax Invoices are created in XML format with a digital signature — either a Public Certification Authority certificate or an NTS-issued e-tax certificate — and transmitted to the NTS Central Platform (Hometax).
The XML-plus-digital-signature pattern has been stable for over a decade, so most accounting and ERP systems already support it natively — the real integration decision is which of the five submission channels to use.
Five separate channels is more than most mandates in this tracker offer — the AVRS telephone and in-person routes exist specifically for very small taxpayers without any digital infrastructure of their own.
The government's own centralized storage covering the retention requirement is a genuine convenience most newer mandates in this tracker don't yet offer — one less thing for a compliant business to manage itself.
Unlike the clearance-model mandates common elsewhere in this tracker, South Korea operates a post-issuance real-time-reporting model: the invoice is legally valid once delivered to the buyer, and next-day transmission to the NTS is a separate reporting duty rather than a precondition for validity. The mandate covers domestic B2B and B2G transactions; there is no general B2C e-invoicing requirement.
The threshold has fallen five times since 2012 (1 billion → 300 million → 200 million → 100 million → 80 million KRW) — check the current figure directly rather than relying on a number you may have seen a few years ago.
This is a narrower scope than several mandates elsewhere in this tracker that also reach B2C — worth checking against your own transaction mix before assuming full coverage.
Every e-Tax Invoice moves through the same sequence — note this is reporting, not clearance:
The invoice is already legally valid once it reaches the buyer — the NTS is not asked to approve it first. This is the key difference from the clearance-model mandates covered elsewhere in this tracker.
Getting compliant means confirming whether you're in scope (all corporations, or individual entrepreneurs above the current KRW 80 million threshold), obtaining a digital certificate, choosing a submission channel, and meeting the next-day transmission deadline.
All corporations have been in scope since 2011 regardless of size; individual entrepreneurs should check their prior-year supply value against the current KRW 80 million threshold, not an older figure.
You'll need either a Public Certification Authority certificate or an NTS-issued e-tax certificate before you can issue a compliant e-Tax Invoice.
Pick from the free NTS Hometax portal, a certified ASP, an in-house accounting system with a digital certificate, the AVRS telephone system, or in-person filing — whichever matches your invoice volume and existing systems.
Cover both parties' tax identification numbers and addresses, the VAT-inclusive cost, the invoice date, and customer information — description of goods is optional.
Transmit to the NTS by the day after issuance where possible; the monthly-summary fallback by the 10th of the following month exists but carries its own penalty risk if relied on routinely.
A missing or incorrect e-Tax Invoice from a supplier blocks your own deduction, regardless of whether the fault is yours — check before you rely on it.
South Korea backs the mandate with a graduated, percentage-of-supply-value penalty schedule for corporations and in-scope individual entrepreneurs, capped annually except for intentional violations — and, separately, missing or incorrect supplier invoices cause the buyer to lose their own input-VAT deduction rights.
Other countries in the same region, ordered by their next dated milestone. Each links to a full briefing.