The biggest driver of your Korean year-end tax refund is the dependent (personal) deduction. Adding even one more dependent noticeably boosts your refund.
1. What it's worth. Each dependent cuts your tax base by ₩1.5 million. On top of that, a dependent aged 70 or over adds ₩1 million and a dependent with a disability adds ₩2 million — the disability addition has no age limit.
2. Where the risk is. Siblings double-claiming the same parent leads to clawback — only one person may claim. And the income test is ₩1 million of income amount, not revenue: with employment income only, gross salary up to ₩5 million still passes.
3. What to do. Only two lines matter — age and income. Before writing someone off because “they earn something”, check the ₩5 million gross-salary line first. That is where most missed claims sit.
On 3 August 2026 a bill was published that would triple this threshold. The test for claiming a spouse or dependant would move from ₩1 million of income to ₩3 million, or from ₩5 million to ₩7.5 million of total pay where employment is the only income. It is still a government bill and the release gives no start date — the 2026 income year settlement, filed in January–February 2027, runs on the current rules below. The bill is covered in our guide to the 2026 tax reform bill.
Here's the 2026 breakdown.
Basic deduction — 1.5M won each
You, your spouse, and dependents you support get 1.5M won each — if they pass two gates: income and age.
| Who | Age | Income |
|---|---|---|
| You | None | None |
| Spouse | None | Annual income ≤ 1M won (wage-only: gross ≤ 5M won) |
| Parents/grandparents | 60+ born on or before 31 Dec 1965 | |
| Children/grandchildren, adopted children living with you | 20 or under born on or after 1 Jan 2005 | |
| Siblings | 20 or under, or 60+ |
Key. A person with a disability has no age requirement (income only). A spouse also has no age test — just the 1M-won income rule.
The age tests reduce to a single line of birth years — and what matters is the gap in the middle.
The tricky “1M won income” rule
- Wage income only → gross salary ≤ 5M won passes (after the wage deduction).
- Business/other income → income after expenses must be ≤ 1M won.
- Public pensions and financial income also count — check the amount.
Exceed it and there's no deduction, no matter how much you support them.
Additional deductions
| Type | Who (NTS wording) | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Elderly | A basic-deduction dependant aged 70 or over born on or before 31 Dec 1955 | 1M won each |
| Disability | A basic-deduction dependant with a disability no age test | 2M won each |
| Working woman | A woman with no spouse who is head of household with a qualifying dependant, or a woman with a spouse only if aggregate income ≤ 30M won | 0.5M won |
| Single parent | A person with no spouse who has a dependent child aged 20 or under | 1M won |
The working-woman deduction carries an extra income ceiling — aggregate income of 30 million won or less. Claiming it without meeting that is a common way to get caught later.
Working-woman and single-parent cannot both be claimed. The NTS states: “the single-parent deduction excludes concurrent application of the working-woman deduction (where both apply, the single-parent deduction applies)”. If you qualify for both, the larger one (1M won) applies automatically — there is nothing to decide.
A supported mother aged 72 with no income: 1.5M basic + 1M elderly = 2.5M won.
The amount attached to one person does not stop at 1.5m won: the additional deductions stack on top of the basic one.
Who qualifies? — cases
| Case | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Father 63, no income | Yes |
| Child 19, part-time gross 4.8M | Yes (wage ≤5M, age ≤20) |
| Mother with large public pension | No if income >1M |
| College child aged 22 | No (over age) — education credit separate |
| Disabled brother 45, no income | Yes (no age limit) |
Don't double-claim. If siblings each list the same parent, the tax system flags it and claws it back with penalties. Only one sibling should claim — usually the one in the higher tax bracket.
Before you add a dependant
My parent receives a public pension — deductible?
Pension counts as income; over 1M won means no deduction. Check the amount.
My child is over 20?
No basic deduction (over age), but education credits may still apply.
Dual-earner couple — who claims the child?
Only one; usually the higher-bracket spouse.
Why the higher earner should claim
When two siblings or two spouses could both claim the same person, the deduction is worth more to whoever sits in the higher bracket. That is not a loophole — it follows from the rate scale running from 6% to 45%. A 1.5 million won deduction removes 1.5 million won from taxable income, so it saves 6% of that for one earner and up to 45% for another. Decide once, agree in writing if you need to, and make sure only one of you enters the name. The tax office matches these across returns and recovers the difference with a penalty when two people claim the same dependant.
A worked case: parents and a child
An employee on 50 million won a year supports ① a father of 65 with no income (basic 1.5m), ② a mother of 72 (basic 1.5m + age credit 1m = 2.5m) and ③ a student child (basic 1.5m if 20 or under). That is 5.5 million won taken off taxable income from personal deductions alone, before the child, medical and education credits are added. One caveat: if there are siblings, only one of you may claim the parents.
Before you register — a checklist
- ☐ Is the dependant's income under 1m won — or gross pay under 5m if it is all employment income?
- ☐ Does the age test pass (parents 60 or over, children 20 or under)? A disabled dependant has no age test.
- ☐ Have you claimed the age-70 and disability additions where they apply?
- ☐ Has a sibling already claimed the same parent?
- ☐ If you missed one, an amended return reaches back five years
Personal deductions carry over year to year once set correctly, but a dependant's income, age and living situation do not. A child turning 21, or a parent's pension rising, can end the deduction the following year — so check the tests again at each year-end settlement.
Sources and where to check
- National Tax Service — “2025 Year-End Settlement Filing Guide for Withholding Agents”, the deduction requirements table. Source of the basic-deduction age, income and cohabitation tests with birth-year cut-offs, the four additional deductions with their exact wording and amounts, the 30 million won aggregate-income ceiling on the working-woman deduction, and the rule that the single-parent deduction excludes the working-woman deduction.
- National Tax Service — Pension income — withholding. Its year-end settlement diagram states “basic deduction: self, spouse and dependants (1.5 million won each)” and “additional deduction: elderly (70 or over, 1 million won), disability (2 million won), single-earner woman (500,000 won)”. This is the primary source for the age-70 threshold and the disability and single-earner-woman amounts.
- Seoul Metropolitan Government — on double-claiming a dependant. A dependant whose annual income exceeds 1 million won does not qualify, a spouse divorced before year-end cannot be claimed, and double-claiming draws a penalty.
- Seoul Labor Rights Center — which spouse should claim a dependant. 1.5 million won per person, a further 1 million won for an elderly parent (illustrated with a parent aged 80, so the page does not state the age threshold itself), and why the higher earner benefits more under a 6–45% progressive scale.
- Seoul Labor Rights Center — correcting a year-end settlement error. A real case of claiming a dependant who had exceeded the income limit.
Written as of July 2026. The 1.5 million won per person, the 1 million won elderly add-on, the 1 million won income test and the penalty for double-claiming all come from the pages above. The NTS’s own “2025 Year-End Settlement Filing Guide for Withholding Agents” has now closed every item this article previously flagged as unverified — the basic-deduction age tests (60+ for parents, 20 or under for children, 20 or under or 60+ for siblings) with their birth-year cut-offs, elderly 70 / 1M won, disability 2M won, working woman 0.5M won with the 30M-won aggregate-income ceiling, single parent 1M won, and the rule excluding both at once. All of it is the NTS requirement table’s own wording. Confirm your own case on Hometax or the tax helpline (126). See also finding unclaimed refunds and the tax calendar. See also comprehensive income tax and the year-end settlement calculator, which shows how far each 1.5m won allowance actually moves the tax and the earned income and child credits.
