I passed the production budget straight through to my crew — do I still have to withhold tax?
Yes, even though a large portion of the production budget you received from the client is re-paid to outsourced staff such as cinematographers, lighting, and sound crews, the withholding obligation belongs to the planning/production company that actually makes the payment. Missing a payment statement for any crew member becomes subject to a penalty tax, so we recommend recognizing revenue based on when the video service is completed and delivered, and organizing your crew list by project.
The most confusing part — the withholding obligation for outsourced staff
Even in a pass-through structure, the withholding obligation stays with the planning/production company
Even a pass-through payment leaves the withholding obligation with you
Even though a large portion of the production budget received from the client is re-paid to outsourced staff such as cinematographers, lighting, and sound crews, the entity that actually pays — the planning/production company — carries the 3.3% withholding obligation. Missing a per-crew-member payment statement becomes subject to a penalty tax.
A systematic approach to withholding by crew member solves this
Filming/lighting/sound crew contracted per project are reported as business income (3.3%); staff regularly employed as your own team are reported as employment income. Keeping a crew list and payment record organized by project makes monthly withholding filings much smoother.
Income structure of a video planner & producer
Key expense categories
Must-read for video planners & producers
Sort production costs by category to save on taxes
From planning infrastructure to shoot equipment rental and labor costs for multiple crew members, sorting each item correctly reduces unnecessary tax
Long-term fixed assets — depreciable equipment
Planning workstation: PC/tablet for storyboarding and previsualization work
Software licenses (perpetual): storyboard/previz tools
Meeting/presentation equipment: projector, monitor
Anything over 1,000,000 KRW per unit is classified as a depreciable asset and must be expensed gradually over its useful life.
Rental costs — project-based spending
Camera-team equipment package rental, boom truck/crane truck and other specialty vehicles, generator trucks for shoots, studio/set rental, prop/set construction costs.
Since you are not acquiring an asset but paying a usage fee, these are expensed in full at the time of payment. If you obtain a tax invoice, you can also claim the input VAT credit.
Personal service costs — multiple-crew withholding
Amounts paid per contract to numerous crew members on each project — cinematographer, gaffer, sound director, stylist, actors, models, extras — are business income subject to 3.3% withholding, filed and paid by the 10th of the following month. The more crew members, the more critical payment statement management becomes.
Post-production/collaboration tool subscriptions
Outsourced editing/color/sound post-production fees, project management tools (Notion, Monday.com, etc.), and cloud collaboration/backup storage subscriptions are recurring monthly expenses and are expensed in full at the time of payment.
| Category | Examples | Tax treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Long-term fixed assets | Planning workstation, software licenses | Depreciated if over 1,000,000 KRW |
| Rental costs | Camera-team package, specialty vehicles, generator trucks, studios | Expensed in full immediately |
| Personal services | Filming/lighting/sound directors, actors/models/extras | 3.3% withholding, filed by the 10th of the following month |
| Post-production/collaboration tools | Outsourced editing/color, project management tools | Expensed immediately |