The earned income tax credit goes only to those who apply — up to ₩3.3M that stays in the treasury if you never raise your hand

There is a program where, for people who work but earn little, the state adds money instead of collecting tax. It is the earned income tax credit. Up to ₩1.65M for a single household, up to ₩3.3M for a dual-earner household. But this money has one characteristic: it has to be applied for. Meet every condition and never apply, and the money simply stays in the treasury. Tax is collected whether you move or not; the credit is paid only when you raise your hand. Consent to automatic application when you apply and the next 2 years are filed for you, but that first application is yours to make.

The EITC lives in the Restriction of Special Taxation Act. It covers people with wages, business income or religious-worker income, so not only employees but also part-timers, the self-employed and freelancers. For the self-employed and freelancers, business income multiplied by an industry adjustment rate (from 20% for wholesale to 90% for personal services) is treated like wages (Enforcement Decree Art. 100-3). Even if it is not you, it may be your parents or a child who has just started working.

Step one, household type. Every number in this program turns on it. With no spouse, no dependent child and no supported lineal ascendant aged 70 or over, you are a single household. With a spouse whose gross pay and similar income is under ₩3M, or with no spouse but a dependent child or a supported lineal ascendant aged 70 or over living with you (income ₩1M or less), a single-earner household; if each spouse earns ₩3M or more, a dual-earner household (Art. 100-3 para. 5). The income tests are under ₩22M for single, under ₩32M for single-earner and under ₩44M for dual-earner (Art. 100-3), and total income means both spouses combined, not you alone. "Under" means exactly that amount does not qualify. Household type has several detailed rules, so borderline cases follow the tax office's ruling.

Step two, the asset test. Even below the income line, too much property disqualifies you. The combined assets of all household members must be under ₩240M, counting land, buildings, cars, deposits and the like. Two common mistakes. First, "I rent on jeonse so I have no assets." The jeonse deposit is valued as an asset, and in the capital region one deposit alone can bring you near the line. Second, the asset test does not subtract debt: a mortgaged home counts in full. Income is spouses combined, but assets are all household members combined. There is a nationality rule too: in principle Korean nationals, with an exception for foreigners married to a Korean national or with a Korean-national dependent child.

Step three, how much. The amount is not proportional to income; it is mountain-shaped (Art. 100-5): uphill, a flat summit, downhill. For a single household, the credit rises with wages up to ₩4M, the plateau runs from ₩4M to ₩9M at the maximum ₩1.65M, and above ₩9M it declines to zero at ₩22M. A single-earner household rises up to ₩7M, plateaus at ₩2.85M from ₩7M to ₩14M, and reaches zero at ₩32M; a dual-earner household rises up to ₩8M, plateaus at ₩3.3M from ₩8M to ₩17M, and reaches zero at ₩44M. Both the height and the position of the mountain differ. A computed amount under ₩15,000 is not paid; on the uphill, ₩15,000 up to ₩100,000 becomes ₩100,000, and on the downhill, ₩15,000 up to ₩30,000 becomes ₩30,000 (Art. 100-7 para. 3).

The mountain shape has a purpose: as you work more and earn more, the credit tapers gently instead of cutting off. So a modest rise in income is no reason to give up on applying. Below the line, some amount remains somewhere on the downhill. Not applying because you do not know the figure is always worse than applying and letting the tax office compute it.

Step four, applying. You apply to the National Tax Service; the regular window is May. You apply in May of the following year for the previous year's income, and payment follows review. People with wages only also have a half-year filing route. Those the tax office has identified receive a notice or text, and with that notice it takes minutes on Hometax or the automated phone line. But there are two traps. No notice does not mean you are ineligible. The tax office may lack some of your income or circumstances, and you can apply on your own without one. Conversely, a notice does not mean automatic payment. It is meant to help you apply, not to apply for you. But if you consent to automatic application when you apply, the tax office applies for you for the next 2 years whenever you qualify (ex officio application under Art. 100-6 para. 11; National Tax Service briefing, 2026-09-01). Of the 1.3 million households notified in September 2026, 720,000 were already applied for through that consent. Miss the deadline and you may still apply within 6 months of the day after the window closes, but only 95% of the computed amount is paid. Raise your hand late and you receive less on the same facts.

People who miss this program share one trait: they have never thought of themselves as eligible. A single household in their twenties who just started working and earned a few million won from part-time jobs may be on the uphill or the plateau. Retired parents doing small jobs are worth checking if they have wages or business income rather than pension. Self-employed people after a bad year and freelancers whose income fell should look too, because the worse the year, the more likely they qualify. And the program pays people who owe no tax: the law pays the credit as a refund of tax treated as already paid (Art. 100-8 para. 1), so having no tax to pay makes no difference. Households with children should also look at the separate child tax credit.

Two things to do now. Hold your and your family's last-year income and assets against the three thresholds; if it looks likely, put the May window on the calendar, and if you missed it, check on Hometax whether a late application is still possible. Boundary rulings on household type, asset valuation, and the details of reductions and exclusions follow tax-office standards and the guidance is updated every year. Money you qualified for and never received is nothing to be embarrassed about. It was your money to begin with. Raising your hand takes minutes.