Misc. "Interest" from Korean Pension Service and Korean National Health Insurance

[shanesnh]

US Expat in Korea. Without getting complicated, my previous employer messed up my Korean Pension payments (comparable to US Social Security) and my National Health Insurance payments.

All premiums were refunded to me and then the workplace paid the proper new amounts back out to cover the retroactive payments. However, both the National Pension Service (NPS) and Health Insurance (NHIS) gave "interest" back to me for the premiums that they had held during the time that were incorrect (and then the employer had to correct their mistake).

Do I need to report this as "income" like interest income? Or could I just do it as miscellaneous income? Or would I have to report this at all? I didn't ask for this interest, it just came because of the employer's mistake.

Thank you.

[rjs]

It doesn't matter whether you asked for the interest. You did receive it, and it is taxable income. I would report it as interest income. You can enter it in TurboTax as if you got a 1099-INT, even though you didn't get one. All you have to enter is the payer's name and the amount (in U.S. dollars).

[shanesnh]

Right, thank you. It's best to do it as two separate 1099-INTs (one from National Health Insurance Service and one from National Pension Service) and not as MISC income, right? The payer's English names are like that and don't include "Korean" or "Korea" in the names so should I just write them as they legally are or do I need to indicate that it's the Korean National Health Insurance Service / Korean National Pension Service? Thanks.

[rjs]

Yes, I would enter it as two separate payers. I would not add the work "Korean" to the names. Remember that you have to enter the amounts in U.S. dollars.

It's not too important exactly how you enter it. If the total amount of interest income that you are reporting is less than $1,500 the details are not even going to appear on your tax return. It will just show the total amount.