10 Things to Check for 'Year-End Tax Adjustment Simplification'... Tuition Fees for Preschool Children Not Available

Employees with total annual salary under 70 million KRW may not have postpartum care center expenses verified
Consent required for year-end tax settlement simplification information for children aged 19 and over

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] For those born before December 31, 2000, who became adults last year, the 'information provision consent' procedure must be completed in the year-end tax settlement simplification service to verify the child's expenditure details as before. Also, for children born last year who have not yet been registered, a birth certificate must be obtained from the medical institution and submitted to the company to receive basic deductions and medical expense deductions.

Kim Seontaek, Chairman of the Korea Taxpayers Federation, warned on the 11th, "There are data that may not be queried or may not appear in the year-end tax settlement simplification service, which will be launched through the National Tax Service Hometax on the 15th," urging caution.

According to the Taxpayers Federation, for patients with severe illnesses such as cancer, dementia, and intractable diseases, a disability certificate must be separately issued by the attending hospital doctor to receive an additional income deduction of 2 million KRW under the disability deduction. Those who lived as tenants without a house last year must prepare a copy of the lease contract and proof of monthly rent payment to the landlord.

In particular, from this year's year-end tax settlement, the application has been expanded to houses exceeding the size of national housing (exclusive area of 85㎡ or less) but with a standard market price of 300 million KRW or less. If a child is attending high school or university abroad, overseas education expenses will not be available in the year-end tax settlement simplification service, so a certificate of enrollment and receipts for education expenses must be collected and submitted to the company to receive deduction benefits this year.

Postpartum care center fees, which apply from this year's year-end tax settlement, can be recognized as medical expenses up to 2 million KRW only for workers with a total salary of 70 million KRW or less. Since most postpartum care centers are expected not to report data to the National Tax Service, receipts confirming the mother's name must be obtained from the postpartum care center.

Additionally, expenses for purchasing or renting disability aids such as hearing aids and wheelchairs, as well as costs for glasses and contact lenses, require separate receipts confirming the user's name from each payment source to be recognized as medical expenses.

Furthermore, for middle and high school students, uniform purchase costs can be recognized as education expenses up to 500,000 KRW per year, so an education expense payment certificate must be issued by the uniform purchase place. For preschool children, tuition fees for academies, sports facilities, childcare centers, and kindergartens can be deducted as education expenses, so requests must be made to each educational institution and submitted.

If there is a child who entered the first grade of elementary school last year, academy fees paid in January and February before entering elementary school are also deductible, so it is advisable not to miss submitting the academy fee payment certificate.

Designated donations to religious organizations, social welfare organizations, and civic groups may sometimes be submitted to the National Tax Service by some donation organizations, but since the obligation to submit data is not legally enforced, most may not be available in the year-end tax settlement simplification service. If not found, workers must obtain donation receipts from the donation organizations and submit them.

A Taxpayers Federation official advised, "Especially for medical expenses, accurate data will be provided after the additional and correction period following the opening of the year-end tax settlement simplification service on the 15th, so it is recommended to check and submit after the 20th. When applying for infertility treatment expenses, since they are provided without distinction in the medical expense category, workers must obtain medical fee payment confirmation from hospitals and pharmacies and separately specify them to receive a 20% tax credit."

The federation also hinted, "Even if parents are under 60 years old, if their income does not exceed 1 million KRW (or an annual salary of 5 million KRW if only earned income), although basic deductions are not possible, deductions for donations, medical expenses, and credit card use are possible. If consent for information provision is applied for all information since 2014, missed medical expenses and credit card deductions for parents over the past five years can be retroactively claimed for additional refunds."

Meanwhile, if there are missed deductions over the past five years, refunds can be easily obtained by using the year-end tax settlement refund application corner at the Taxpayers Federation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.