Number of Households Eligible for Earned Income and Child Tax Credits Increases by 800,000

Income Criteria Relaxation and Decline in Official Housing Prices...
Payment Amount Expected to Increase by 900 Billion to 6.1 Trillion
National Tax Service Expands Automatic Application Targets and Increases Consultation Staff

The number of households eligible for this year's Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit is expected to increase by about 800,000 compared to last year. This is due to the relaxation of income criteria for the Child Tax Credit and the decline in official housing prices.

On the 14th, the National Tax Service announced that with the increase in recipients of this year's Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, the total payment amount is expected to rise by 900 billion KRW from 5.2 trillion KRW last year to 6.1 trillion KRW this year.

This year, the income threshold for the Child Tax Credit has been expanded from under 40 million KRW to under 70 million KRW, and the maximum payment amount has increased from 800,000 KRW to 1,000,000 KRW. Accordingly, the number of households eligible for the Child Tax Credit is expected to increase by about 470,000.

Additionally, the official housing prices for 2023 have fallen by 18.61%. Due to the decrease in property values from the drop in official prices, the National Tax Service expects the number of eligible households to increase by about 320,000 compared to last year.

Accordingly, the National Tax Service plans to expand the scope of automatic application consent for the tax credits, increase the number of dedicated counseling staff, and introduce the 'Visible ARS and Callback Service' for the first time to further enhance the convenience of applying for the credits.

Since last year, the National Tax Service has been actively implementing the 'Automatic Application System for Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit' to alleviate the inconvenience for elderly people and persons with severe disabilities who must apply annually, and to prevent missed applications and telephone financial fraud. Last year, a total of 1.07 million people, including 940,000 elderly aged 65 and over and 130,000 persons with severe disabilities, consented to automatic application. This year, the target has been expanded to elderly people aged 60 and over, and the National Tax Service expects that 1.65 million elderly people will benefit annually.

Furthermore, to ensure prompt dedicated counseling for the tax credits, the number of counseling personnel has been increased from 890 person-times last year to 930 person-times, and to resolve the inconvenience caused by high call volumes early in the application period preventing counseling, the Visible ARS and Callback Service will be implemented starting in May.

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