Korea EITC Late Application: Apply by Dec 1, Get 95%

In early November, Korea's National Tax Service (NTS) sent notices to about 260,000 households that qualified for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or the Child Tax Credit (CTC) for 2025 income but never applied during the regular May window. If one of those notices reached you by text message, it is reasonable to wonder whether it is real, how much money is involved, and whether applying late costs you anything.

Here is the short version. If you apply by Tuesday, December 1, 2026, you receive 95% of your calculated amount, paid on Friday, January 15, 2027. After December 1, applications for 2025 income are closed for good.

Both credits are cash payments from the NTS to working households with low or modest income. They are meant to support people who work, and they are paid into your bank account or in cash.

The key facts

Deadline — Tuesday, December 1, 2026. The regular window ran from May 1 to June 1; the late window runs from June 2 to December 1.
Payout — 95% of the amount the NTS calculates after review. The 5% reduction is the only penalty for applying late.
Payment date — Friday, January 15, 2027 (scheduled).
Which income counts — What you earned from January to December 2025. You may qualify even if you are no longer working today.

A 5% cut is far better than nothing. Applying 95% to the maximum amounts gives KRW 1,567,500 for a single-person household (maximum KRW 1.65 million), KRW 2,707,500 for a single-earner household (KRW 2.85 million) and KRW 3,135,000 for a dual-earner household (KRW 3.3 million). The child credit of up to KRW 1 million per child becomes KRW 950,000. These are calculations from the maximums only; your actual amount depends on your income and assets.

Can foreign residents apply?

This is the first question for many English-speaking readers, so it is worth answering before anything else. According to the NTS eligibility rules, a person who did not hold Korean nationality as of December 31, 2025 cannot apply, with two exceptions: you can apply if you are married to a Korean national, or if you have a dependent child who is a Korean national. You also need to have been a resident of Korea with work, business or religious-worker income in 2025.

If you fit one of those exceptions, read on. If you are unsure how your situation is classified, the EITC counseling center (1566-3636) can check it for you.

If you received a notice: confirm it is genuine, then apply

Notices arrive by post or on your phone. Mobile notices go through the government's "National Secretary" (Gukmin Biseo) alert service to the app you registered for alerts, such as KakaoTalk or Toss; if you never signed up, they go to KakaoTalk. Some arrive through Naver e-documents or KT text alerts.

Applying from a mobile notice — Tap "View", verify your identity, tap "Apply" and enter the last seven digits of your resident registration number. You are taken to the mobile Hometax app, where you confirm the requirements and register a contact number and a bank account.
If a text looks suspicious — Genuine NTS text notices carry a "safe" mark from the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA). If you still have doubts, do not tap any link. Call the automated line at 1544-9944 yourself, enter your resident registration number and then the 8-digit individual authentication number printed on your notice.
Paper notice — Scan the QR code on the letter with your phone camera.
Hours — The automated line and Hometax work from 6 a.m. to midnight.
Lost the notice? — You can check whether you are on the list. On desktop Hometax, go to the menu for incentives, year-end settlement and donations, then the EITC/CTC section and "incentive notice information". On mobile Hometax, look for the option to check whether you are on the notice list. The automated line and the counseling center can also tell you.
If apps and websites are hard to use — Call the counseling center at 1566-3636 (weekdays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.). With your consent, a counselor or tax office employee can file the application on your behalf. This is often the easiest route when helping an older parent.

No notice? You may still qualify

The NTS sends notices to households its income records suggest are likely to qualify. Not receiving one does not mean you are ineligible.

Your employer filed late — If an employer submitted income records after the legal deadline of March 10, that income was missing when May notices went out. This year, for the first time, the NTS re-analyzed records that arrived after May and added about 10,000 households to the notice list.
Part-time or day work — Young people who earned money through part-time or daily-wage work in 2025 can qualify.
You have since left your job — If you had work, business or religious-worker income in 2025, you may qualify even if you are not working now.

Without a notice, you cannot use the automated phone line. Apply through Hometax (desktop or mobile) or on paper. After logging in to Hometax, open the menu for incentives, year-end settlement and e-donations and choose to apply for the EITC/CTC. Once you verify your identity, your household members and income records appear on screen. If any income is missing, attach proof such as an income confirmation issued by your workplace.

Do you qualify? The 2025 tests

Everything is based on 2025. Work out your household type first, then check income and assets.

Household type (as of December 31, 2025)

Single-person household — No spouse, no dependent child under 18 and no parent or grandparent aged 70 or older.
Single-earner household — You have a spouse whose total wages and similar income were under KRW 3 million, or you have no spouse but have a dependent child under 18 or a lineal ascendant aged 70 or older. Dependent children must be born on or after January 2, 2007, ascendants on or before December 31, 1955, and each must have annual income of KRW 1 million or less.
Dual-earner household — You and your spouse each had total wages and similar income of KRW 3 million or more.

Income (combined for the couple, total income in 2025)

EITC — Under KRW 22 million for single-person households, under KRW 32 million for single-earner households and under KRW 44 million for dual-earner households.
CTC — You have a child under 18 and combined income under KRW 70 million.
What counts — Wages, business income (gross receipts multiplied by an industry adjustment rate), religious-worker income, and interest, dividend, pension and other income. Tax-exempt income, severance pay and capital gains are excluded.

Assets (household total as of June 1, 2025)

Must be under KRW 240 million. Debts are not subtracted, so a home bought with a mortgage counts at its full value.
Between KRW 170 million and KRW 240 million, you receive only 50% of the calculated amount.
What counts — Houses, land and buildings, passenger cars (at the official standard value), pre-sale rights to new apartments, rental deposits (jeonse), bank deposits, stocks and membership rights.
Rental deposits — For housing, the NTS uses the lower of your actual deposit and a deemed deposit of 55% of the property's standard value. If your actual deposit is lower but a higher figure was used, submitting your lease contract lets the NTS use the actual amount.

Who cannot apply even if they pass the tests

People without Korean nationality as of December 31, 2025, except those married to a Korean national or with a dependent child who is a Korean national.
People who were someone else's dependent child during 2025.
People running a professional-services business (and their spouses).
Regular employees still employed on December 31, 2025 with average monthly wages of KRW 5 million or more (and their spouses) — this exclusion applies to the EITC only.

Only one person per household can receive the credits, so agree in advance on who will apply.

How much you can get

EITC — From KRW 30,000 up to KRW 1.65 million (single-person), KRW 2.85 million (single-earner) or KRW 3.3 million (dual-earner).
Income range that gets the maximum — KRW 4–9 million for single-person households, KRW 7–14 million for single-earner households and KRW 8–17 million for dual-earner households. Below or above that range, the amount is smaller.
CTC — KRW 500,000 to KRW 1 million per dependent child.

Even after you apply, the NTS reviews the financial assets of everyone in the household, so you may receive nothing or an amount different from the estimate on your notice. Treat the notice figure as an estimate, not a promise.

Receiving the money

Bank transfer or cash — You choose when you apply. If you choose cash, a national tax refund notice arrives by registered mail; take it with your ID to any post office.
Seized accounts — If the account you enter is under a seizure order, you may not be able to withdraw the money. In that case, enter a different account or choose cash.
Automatic application — If you consent to automatic application when you file, you will be applied for automatically whenever you receive a notice within the next two years and meet the requirements. Each payment extends that period by two more years. It is worth ticking if you tend to forget.

Not missing it next year

Regular application — Every May, for the previous calendar year's income (this year it was May 1 to June 1). Applying on time means no 5% reduction.
Half-year application — If your only income is wages, you can choose half-year applications instead. Income from the first half of 2026 was due September 1–15, 2026; income from the second half of 2026 can be filed March 1–15, 2027. Anyone with business or religious-worker income must use the May window.
Wider limits expected from 2027 income — Under the government's 2026 tax law amendment bill, the EITC income limits would rise to KRW 26 million, 37 million and 52 million, and the maximum payments to KRW 1.8 million, 3.1 million and 3.6 million, for single-person, single-earner and dual-earner households respectively. The top of the maximum-payment range for dual-earner households would widen to KRW 18 million. The change would apply to income from January 1, 2027 onward, starting with half-year applications in September 2027. It is still a bill and becomes final only after the National Assembly passes it. If you narrowly missed this year's limits, keep next year's dates in mind.

Where to ask

Automated line (ARS) — 1544-9944, for applying and checking whether you received a notice.
EITC counseling center — 1566-3636, weekdays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., including help with applying.
National Tax Counseling Center — Dial 126, then choose tax law counseling and the incentives menu.

Another benefit with a deadline this winter is Korea's energy voucher for heating costs. If your household may qualify, see our guide to the 2026 energy voucher as well.

December 1 is close. If you received a notice, open it today. If you did not, but you earned money in Korea in 2025 and meet the conditions above, it takes only a few minutes on Hometax to check where you stand.

This guide is based on the National Tax Service press release of November 2, 2026 and the NTS EITC and CTC guidance pages, as checked on November 11, 2026. Whether you are paid, and how much, is decided by the NTS review.