Although half a year has passed since the year-end tax settlement in early 2026, inquiries regarding refunds continue to pour in. This is because not a few employees missed deduction items at the time of settlement or have questions about the refund amount.

Corrections Still Possible After the Deadline Through 'Request for Correction' According to the National Tax Service, those who overpaid taxes during the February year-end tax settlement due to omissions in dependent registration or failure to submit evidence for medical expense or monthly rent tax credits could have made corrections during the May comprehensive income tax filing period (until June 1 this year).

However, there is still a way open for workers who missed this period. The system that can be used even after the legal filing deadline has passed is the 'Request for Correction.' You simply need to reflect the omitted items in the tax filing menu and check the progress on the filing result inquiry screen.

However, since Hometax does not automatically find omitted deduction items, individuals must personally compare and reflect the details for each category, such as medical expenses, education expenses, and donations.

Refunds Can Be Checked in Three Places… Time Lag Until Deposit Refund inquiries can be made through three channels: the National Tax Service's Hometax, the mobile Sontax app, and the Government24 portal. Just because a refund can be queried does not mean it will be deposited immediately; depending on the number of applications and workload at each tax office, there may be a difference of several days in the processing time. If a refund does not appear immediately after filing, it is reasonable to view this as a normal processing delay rather than an error.

Deduction Items Changing from the 2026 Tax Year There are also things to prepare for ahead of next year's year-end tax settlement. Starting from the 2026 tax year, several new deduction items will be created or their conditions will change. - New income deduction for swimming pool and gym usage fees - Eased income requirements for the marriage tax credit and postpartum care center expense deduction - Expanded salary criteria for the monthly rent tax credit - Adjustment of donation tax credit brackets: A 44% deduction rate applies to the 100,000–200,000 KRW range, and a 16.5% rate applies to amounts exceeding 200,000 KRW

Precautions: Avoid Excessive Deductions and Duplicate Filings For the medical expense tax credit, only the amount actually borne by the individual is recognized. Among the medical expenses retrieved through the simplification service, amounts covered by actual loss insurance must be excluded when filing. If these are reflected as is without being deducted, it will be considered an excessive deduction, which may result in subsequent collection or penalty taxes.

Tax deductions for child-related insurance premiums and education expenses can also only be claimed by the one spouse who is registered as eligible for the basic deduction, requiring prior coordination so that couples do not apply duplicated.

Two Factors to Watch Going Forward First, the results of your Request for Correction processing and the timing of the refund. Second, the estimated tax amount for the 2026 tax year through the year-end tax settlement preview service that the National Tax Service will release in the second half of the year. Both of these points will be announced separately through Hometax notices.

[This article is intended to provide general tax-related information, and the applicability of individual deductions may vary depending on personal income and enrolled products. Therefore, for accurate tax amounts, verification through the National Tax Service's Hometax or a tax professional is required. Please note that detailed information may differ. This publication bears no legal or financial responsibility. This is an AI-assisted article.]