Free Quotation Generator (South Korea)

In South Korea a quotation (견적서) matters legally in two places: public purchasing, where quotations are a required step, and the contract that follows, which can carry stamp tax.

When a central-government body buys by negotiated contract (수의계약), the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Contracts to Which the State Is a Party (Art. 30(1)) requires quotations from at least two suppliers. One quotation is enough where the estimated price is KRW 20 million or less (KRW 50 million for certain contracts with small and micro enterprises). Above those amounts the quotation must be requested through the E-Procurement System (나라장터), and a quotation outside the budget price is rejected and requested again (Art. 30(2), 30(6)). Negotiated contracts are open for goods and services up to KRW 20 million, for such contracts with small or micro enterprises up to KRW 100 million, and for construction up to KRW 400 million (KRW 200 million for specialized construction) (Art. 26(1)5(a)). A supplier selling to the public sector should therefore keep the quotation as a dated, priced record that can be filed on the platform.

A written contract can be skipped for a state contract of KRW 30 million or less, for immediate cash purchases and for auctions (Decree Art. 49). Above that, the signed contract agreement under Art. 11 of the Act is a taxable document under the Stamp Tax Act (Art. 3(1)3; Decree Art. 2-3). The tax is KRW 20,000 for a stated amount above KRW 10 million up to 30 million, KRW 40,000 up to 50 million, KRW 70,000 up to 100 million, KRW 150,000 up to KRW 1 billion and KRW 350,000 above that, and it is paid by the 10th of the month after the document is made (Art. 8). A quotation alone is not taxed, because the Act classifies documents by what they do rather than their title (Art. 3(4)).

Between a prime contractor and a subcontractor, the Fair Transactions in Subcontracting Act (Art. 3) requires a written document before work starts, signed or sealed by both sides, stating the price, the payment method and the other items in Decree Art. 3. A quotation is not a substitute. Showing a subcontractor another firm's quotation, or a false one, to push the price down is a prohibited act (Art. 4(2)4), and breaching the paperwork rule can bring a penalty surcharge of up to the subcontract price (Art. 25-3).