Korea's Gift Tax Deductions — Marriage and Childbirth Together Are Still 100m Won

“My parents want to help — is there tax on that?” is one of the most searched questions in Korean personal finance, and most people know exactly one line about it: “up to 50 million won is fine.” Open the statute and it turns on who gave it, when, and whether you are a resident — and the marriage and childbirth deductions carry a second ceiling in their own provision.

How much can I receive, and from whom

Article 53 (Gift Property Deduction) Where a resident receives a gift from any of the following persons, the amount specified shall be deducted … In such cases, if the amount to be deducted plus the amount already deducted within the 10 years preceding the gift (excluding amounts deducted under Article 53-2) exceeds the specified amount, the excess shall not be deducted.
1. Gift from a spouse: KRW 600m
2. Gift from a lineal ascendant [including the ascendant’s spouse by legal marriage (excluding de facto marriage)]: KRW 50m. Provided, that where a minor receives a gift from a lineal ascendant, KRW 20m.
3. Gift from a lineal descendant (including the lineal descendant of a spouse by legal marriage): KRW 50m
4. Other than subparagraphs 2 and 3, gift from a blood relative within the fourth degree or an in-law within the third degree: KRW 10m

Put the four subparagraphs on one axis and you can see why “50m” never fits in a single line.

Do marriage and childbirth come on top

Article 53-2(1) Where a resident receives a gift from a lineal ascendant within two years before or after the marriage date (meaning the date of report shown on the marriage relation certificate), KRW 100m shall be deducted … separately from the deductions under paragraph (2) and Article 53(2).
(2) Where a resident receives a gift from a lineal ascendant within two years from a child’s date of birth (as shown on the birth report) or date of adoption (the adoption report date), KRW 100m shall be deducted … separately from the deductions under paragraph (1) and Article 53(2).
(3) Where the sum of the amounts deducted or to be deducted under paragraphs (1) and (2) exceeds KRW 100m, the excess shall not be deducted.

What if the marriage falls through

Article 53-2(5) Where, after taking the deduction under paragraph (1), an unavoidable cause prescribed by Presidential Decree, such as the death of the fiancé(e), arises and the gifted property is returned to the donor within three months from the last day of the month in which that cause arose, the gift shall be deemed never to have been made.
(6) Where a resident who took the deduction before marrying does not marry within two years of the gift and files a revised or late return by the day three months after the last day of the month containing the second anniversary, the penalties … shall not be imposed in whole or in part, but an amount equivalent to interest shall be added to the gift tax.
(7) … Where the marriage is annulled and a return is filed by the day three months after the last day of the month in which the judgment became final … (same treatment as paragraph (6)).

• You may receive it before the marriage — paragraph (1) says “two years before or after.” In exchange, the marriage must be reported within two years, and if it is not, paragraph (6) applies.
• Paragraphs (6) and (7) are the forgiving ones — file in time and the penalties are waived. But the interest equivalent still applies. It does not become as though nothing happened.
• Only paragraph (5) says “deemed never to have been made” — and only where an unavoidable cause such as the death of the fiancé(e) is combined with return within three months. The scope of those causes is in Article 46(2) of the Decree — set out below.
• The general rules on revised returns are in our amended return guide.

The three “unavoidable causes” — Decree Article 46(2)

(2) “An unavoidable cause prescribed by Presidential Decree, such as the death of the fiancé(e)” in Article 53-2(5) of the Act means any of the following (inserted 29 February 2024):
1. the death of the fiancé(e);
2. the grounds for dissolving an engagement in items 1 to 7 of Article 804 of the Civil Act;
3. any other serious cause making marriage impossible that the Commissioner of the National Tax Service recognises.

Civil Act Article 804, to which item 2 points, has eight items — a sentence of suspension of qualifications or heavier; commencement of adult or limited guardianship; an incurable disease; engagement or marriage to someone else; adultery; whereabouts unknown for a year or more; unjustified refusal or delay of marriage; and item 8, “any other serious cause”.

Paragraph (3) of the same article waives the penalty taxes under Framework Act on National Taxes Articles 47-2(1)2, 47-3(1)2 and 47-4 for revised or late returns under paragraphs (6) and (7), and paragraph (4) computes the interest equivalent as gift tax × the days from the day after the filing deadline to the filing date × the rate in Enforcement Decree of that Act Article 27-4(1).

Is money for living expenses exempt

Article 46 (Gift Property Exempt from Tax) Gift tax shall not be imposed on any of the following:
5. Disaster relief goods, medical expenses, the living expenses of a dependant, and education expenses recognised as such by social norms, and other similar items prescribed by Presidential Decree

The words “of a dependant” are in the text. This does not read as “living expenses are always exempt” but as a provision that builds a dependency relationship into its own wording. That is why money given to an adult child with sufficient income is the case that gets contested.

And “recognised … by social norms” qualifies the whole clause. The detail is delegated to the Decree.

We opened that Decree — Article 35(4)

Opened on 21 September 2026. Until today this page carried no figure here, because the Decree was still closed to us. Having opened it: there is no monetary threshold for living or education expenses there either. What the Decree fixes is what the “other similar items” in Article 46(5) are — and it puts one condition in front of the whole list: the item must have been “spent directly on that purpose”. Money received and saved, or spent on something else, does not pass through this door.

Decree Article 35(4) “Items prescribed by Presidential Decree” in Article 46(5) of the Act means any of the following that has been spent directly on that purpose:
2. Tuition, scholarships and similar money or goods
3. Commemorative gifts, congratulatory money and condolence money and the like, to the extent ordinarily regarded as necessary
4. Wedding household goods, to the extent ordinarily regarded as necessary
5. Goods donated by another and brought into Korea from abroad whose customs value is under KRW 1m
6. For a worker who owns no house, acquiring or leasing a home of 85 m² or less: a purchase subsidy from an in-house welfare fund up to 5% of the purchase price, or a lease subsidy up to 10% of the jeonse deposit
7. Money or goods given through a media organisation to help those in hardship

Three amounts appear, and none of them is an amount for living or education expenses — the KRW 1m customs value in subparagraph 5, the 5% and 10% subsidy caps in subparagraph 6, and, in paragraph (6) of the same article, the KRW 40m a year cap on exempt insurance proceeds (Article 46(8) of the Act). For living and education expenses neither the Act nor the Decree states a figure — the two tests are “social norms” and “of a dependant”. So this article still states no amount: there is none to state.

What changes if it goes straight to a grandchild

Article 57(1) Where the recipient is a lineal descendant who is not the donor’s child, an amount equal to 30 percent of the computed gift tax (or 40 percent where the recipient is such a descendant and a minor, and the value of the gifted property exceeds KRW 2bn) shall be added. Provided, that this shall not apply where the donor’s nearest lineal descendant has died and that deceased person’s nearest lineal descendant receives the gift.

• The proviso matters — a grandchild whose parent has already died receives from a grandparent with no surcharge. The structure treats that as a generation that is missing, not one that is skipped.
• Over KRW 2bn to a minor grandchild is 40%. It is not a flat 30%.
• The surcharge is added to the computed gift tax — that is, after deductions.

Here is what the article 57 surcharge comes to, and what the proviso does to it.

Reserved shares (half for children and spouse, a third for parents) are worked out in reserved share calculator.

Questions that keep splitting opinion

When is the return due?

Article 68(1) — “within three months from the last day of the month in which the gift was received.” Not three months from the gift date, which makes it longer in practice. A gift received on 5 March runs three months from 31 March.

If I am under the limit, do I still have to file?

The statute treats the filing duty and the deduction separately. Article 68(1) imposes the duty on “a person liable to pay gift tax,” while Article 53 works by subtracting from the taxable value. Whether being under the limit removes the duty cannot be settled from these two provisions alone, so we do not assert it. Because the 10-year history is at stake, it is safer to ask the tax office. Handing over a home with a jeonse deposit attached changes the arithmetic again — see gifts with debt attached.

What are the rates?

Gift tax has no rate table of its own. Article 56 says only that “gift tax shall be the amount computed by applying «the tax rates in Article 26» to the tax base under Article 55” — and Article 26 is the inheritance tax rate. Two taxes share one table.

That table is an image in the provision, so it does not show as text — the original is in the image’s alt text, and we have now taken it from there.

The provision never uses the words “progressive deduction” — it writes out the fixed amount at the start of each band, and the familiar “base × rate − deduction” is a one-line shortcut for this table. The inheritance side, which uses the same table, is in our inheritance tax guide.

What if it is a loan, not a gift?

Article 53 contains no rules on loan agreements, interest, or repayment records. That job belongs to Article 45 (presumption of gift of funds for acquiring property).

Article 45 (1) Where, in view of the acquirer’s occupation, age, income and assets, it is difficult to accept that the property was acquired with their own means …, the acquisition funds shall be presumed to have been received as a gift …
(2) The same applies where it is difficult to accept that a debt was repaid with the debtor’s own means.
(3) Paragraphs (1) and (2) shall not apply where the funds are no more than the amount prescribed by Presidential Decree … or where a sufficient explanation of their source is given.

• It is a presumption, so it can be rebutted — paragraph (3) leaves “sufficient explanation” as the way out. Loan agreements, interest and repayment records are asked for not because the Act prescribes a form, but because they are the material for that explanation.
• Decree Article 34(1) draws the line — add up declared or assessed income, declared or assessed inheritances and gifts, and sale proceeds or borrowings used directly; if the total falls short of the acquisition price, the presumption applies. But it is excluded where the unexplained amount is less than «the smaller of» «20% of the price» and «KRW 200m» — for a 500m purchase the line is 100m; for a 2bn purchase it is 200m, not 400m.
• Paragraph (3)’s small-amount exclusion is “an amount of 50 million won or more in total within ten years, as the NTS Commissioner determines” — the actual figure sits with the Commissioner’s criteria, not in the provision.
• Article 45(4) presumes property held in a real-name-verified account to have been acquired by the account holder and applies paragraph (1) — “I just kept my money in my parent’s account” does not simply work.

What changes if the gift is real estate?

Receiving property as a gift triggers acquisition tax separately under the Local Tax Act, and on a later sale the acquisition value becomes an issue for capital gains tax. See our acquisition tax guide and capital gains tax guide.

The gift tax deduction does not reduce to one line about how much is fine. It turns on who gave it, how much you received in the last ten years — and for marriage and childbirth, on a second ceiling the statute puts on the sum.

For what passes by inheritance rather than gift, see the inheritance tax calculator — the deductions come before the rate, and with a spouse and children nothing is due up to 1bn won.

Sources

• Ministry of Government Legislation, National Law Information Center — statutory text — Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act, Article 53 (Gift Property Deduction). Source of the four subparagraphs, the “where a resident” premise, the 10-year aggregation rule, and “excluding amounts deducted under Article 53-2.”
• Ministry of Government Legislation, National Law Information Center — statutory text — Same Act, Article 53-2 (Marriage and Childbirth Gift Deduction). Source of the definitions of marriage and birth dates, the KRW 100m each, the combined KRW 100m ceiling in paragraph (3), and paragraphs (5) to (7).
• Ministry of Government Legislation, National Law Information Center — statutory text — Same Act, Article 57 (Surcharge on Gifts to Lineal Descendants). Source of the 30 percent, the 40 percent for a minor over KRW 2bn, and the proviso where the nearest lineal descendant has died.
• Ministry of Government Legislation, National Law Information Center — statutory text — Same Act, Article 46 (Gift Property Exempt from Tax). Source of subparagraph 5 and of the qualifier “of a dependant.”
• Ministry of Government Legislation, National Law Information Center — statutory text — Same Act, Article 68 (Gift Tax Return). Source of “within three months from the last day of the month in which the gift was received.”
• Ministry of Government Legislation, National Law Information Center — statutory text — Same Act, Article 26 (inheritance tax rates) and Article 56 (gift tax rates). Article 56 hands over to “the tax rates in Article 26”, and the five-band table in Article 26 is an image — taken from the image’s alt text (checked 18 September 2026). This is where the page had said the table was an image it could not read.
• Ministry of Government Legislation, National Law Information Center — statutory text — Same Act, Article 45 (presumption of gift of acquisition funds) and Enforcement Decree Article 34. Source of paragraph (3)’s “sufficient explanation”, paragraph (4)’s real-name account presumption, the Decree’s “the smaller of 20/100 of the amount and KRW 200m”, and its “50 million won or more within ten years, as the NTS Commissioner determines”.
• Ministry of Government Legislation, National Law Information Center — statutory text — Same Decree, Article 35 (Scope of Gift Property Exempt from Tax). Source of the subparagraphs of paragraph (4), the “spent directly on that purpose” condition in front of them, and paragraph (6)’s KRW 40m annual cap on insurance proceeds. Opened 21 September 2026 — no amount for living or education expenses is there either.
• Ministry of Government Legislation, National Law Information Center — statutory text — Enforcement Decree Article 46. Source of paragraph (2)’s three “unavoidable causes”, paragraph (3)’s penalty waiver and paragraph (4)’s interest computation; together with Civil Act Article 804 (grounds for dissolving an engagement), the basis for eight items, of which the Decree takes seven.

Where to check further

• What counts as “socially acceptable” living and education expenses. Neither Article 46(5) nor Decree Article 35(4) names an amount — what is left is “of a dependant”, “social norms” and the Decree’s “spent directly on that purpose” — the National Tax Service helpline (126) and Hometax's gift tax case notes show how it is applied.
• How residency is determined. Article 53 grants the deduction to residents only, but the test lives in the Income Tax Act — if you have spent time abroad, settle it with your district tax office or 126 first.
• The gift tax return form and supporting documents. The statute fixes the deadline and nothing more — Hometax's gift tax filing menu lists the form and attachments; for larger amounts, work through it with a tax professional.

Written as of August 2026. All quotations are the statutory text as published by the National Law Information Center, and what we could not confirm is listed separately above. Three gaps were filled on 18 September and a fourth on 21 September (this English page updated 20 September) — the rate table (Article 56 → Article 26, from the image’s alt text), the “unavoidable causes” (Decree Article 46(2)) and the source-of-funds presumption (Act Article 45, Decree Article 34), and the scope of exempt gift property (Decree Article 35(4) and (6)). Gifts carry ten years of history with them, so outcomes vary sharply case by case. For larger amounts, check in advance with the National Tax Service counselling line (126) or a certified tax accountant. This article is general information, not tax advice.