The International Schools Review Forum

I was looking into which countries will tax tuition waivers received by ITs.
Is the following list correct, and can anyone comment regarding the countries marked ’UNSURE’?


Austria: YES, at 40%
Bulgaria: NO
Czech Republic: UNSURE, salary is taxed at 20% though
Germany, YES, at around 30-40% (varies depending on lots factors)
Hungary: NO
Romania: NO
Serbia: NO
Slovenia: ??
The Netherlands: UNSURE, salary is taxed at 30% though
UK: UNSURE, salary is taxed at 12-30% though

Japan: YES, at 12-20%
Laos: NO
Malaysia: UNSURE, but likely since housing allowance is taxed, and salary is taxed at 18-26%
Myanmar: NO
Oman: NO
Philipines: NO
Singapore: YES, at 12%
Thailand: UNSURE
Turkey: NO
Uzbekistan: NO
Vietnam: UNSURE, salary is taxed at 19% though

Argentina: NO
Peru: UNSURE
Ethiopia: NO

Mozambique: UNSURE, salary is taxed at 20-23% though
Senegal: NO


Feel free to add countries that aren't in the list in the comments.



I base most on this on whether or not an IT’s salary is taxed at all in a country at all (based on ISs’ Search profiles), assuming if it’s not, the tuition wont be taxed either. Sometimes profiles mention the tuition being taxed, but not all IS volunteer this information, so it’s not always clear.

UAE - no

Denmark - yes. the tuition is subsidized and salaries are taxed about 35%.

UK - tax rates are:

England, Wales and NI - up to £12,500 - 0%; £12,501 - £50,000 - 20%; £50,001 - £150,000 - 40%; £150,001+ - 45%
Scotland - up to £12,500 - 0%; £12,501 - £14,549 - 19%; £14,550 - £24,994 - 20%; £24,945 - £43,430 - 21%; £43,431 - £150,000 - 41%; £150,001+ 46%


You would probably be taxed on school fees as it's seen as a company benefit (though the HMRC website isn't clear on this) however any childcare can be tax-free, depending on your income.

Thailand - no

While I understand the motivation behind this list, please, all, remember that the greatest tax on child tuition is that most teachers with school aged children never get interviewed for the job at all.

Looking at Search profiles for schools in Japan, there's a tier 1 school in Yokohama that states that salary is not taxed, and a certain IS in Kobe says the same.
Almost all other ISs mention the salary being taxed (usually 20%).

Is salary in these two schools really not taxed?

Hard to believe, but perhaps someone knows if and why.

They might just have been sloppy when filling out the information on their school's page.
I can't imagine that a teacher in that Yokohama school wouldn't pay taxes and a teacher at another school in Tokyo or even another school in Yokohama would not.

@Illiane_Blues

That IS in Yokohama may absorb the tax burden on behalf of the IT, whereas the IS in Kobe does not.

PsyGuy wrote:
> That IS in Yokohama may absorb the tax burden on behalf of the IT, whereas
> the IS in Kobe does not.


There's a box on the Search profiles though where a school can indicate if they pay taxes for the IT, and it's left unchecked. Schools would be quite keen to check this box if they do absorb the taxes I imagine.

But either of you might be right - it might be an oversight and you still need to pay the taxes, or the IS might pay the taxes for you. Unless someone from YIS can comment, it's all speculation.

I know of this 'Does the school pay for these taxes' box on the profiles. That's why I thought it might have been the school being sloppy when filling out the information on their profile.

Are tuition waivers in South Korea taxed?