The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) system, introduced to support the real income of low-income workers and self-employed households and to encourage work incentives, will undergo a major expansion and reform for the first time in five years. The National Tax Service plans to lower the threshold for support and increase the scale of benefits to provide thicker tax relief to more citizens.

■ Beneficiary Households to Rise by 730,000 to 4.89 Million... Payments to Reach 5.9 Trillion Won

According to the 2026 tax revision plan, the number of households eligible for the EITC is estimated to increase by approximately 730,000, from the current 4.16 million to 4.89 million. Accordingly, the total payment scale is expected to reach 5.9 trillion won, up 1.2 trillion won from the existing 4.7 trillion won.

■ Income Requirements and Maximum Payments to Be Raised for Single, Single-Earner, and Dual-Earner Households

The core of the revision is the relaxation of income requirements by household type and an increase in maximum payment amounts. The main details are as follows.

· Single-person households: annual income requirement ceiling raised from 22 million won to 26 million won; maximum payment raised from 1.65 million won to 1.8 million won · Single-earner households: income requirement raised from 32 million won to 37 million won; maximum payment raised from 2.85 million won to 3.1 million won · Dual-earner households: income requirement raised from 44 million won to 52 million won; maximum payment raised from 3.3 million won to 3.6 million won

■ Applied from Tax Periods Beginning on or after January 1, 2027... Actual Payments from September 2027 Applications

The revised standards will apply to tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2027, with actual applications and payments beginning in earnest from those filed in September 2027.

■Grown from 590,000 Households in 2009 to 4.16 Million... Established as a Social Safety Net

When first introduced in 2009, the EITC provided only 0.4 trillion won to 590,000 households. Since then, it has grown steadily, establishing itself as a key social safety net for mitigating income polarization and stabilizing the economy of ordinary citizens. It expanded from 1.28 million households (1.5 trillion won) in 2015, 4.1 million households (4.5 trillion won) in 2019, and 4.42 million households (4.9 trillion won) in 2022, maintaining a level of 4.16 million households (4.7 trillion won) as of 2025.

■ Goal of Paying 5.9 Trillion Won to 4.89 Million Households by 2028

The National Tax Service expects that, building on this tax revision, it will pay a total of 5.9 trillion won in credits to 4.89 million households by 2028, contributing to the economic independence of vulnerable groups and revitalizing the livelihood economy. Detailed matters should be confirmed with the relevant agency.

[The actual payment and amount of the EITC may vary depending on each household's income, assets, and screening results. Application and payment schedules and detailed criteria should be confirmed through official National Tax Service guidance. AI provided partial assistance in the writing of this article.]