Registering a marriage in Korea takes 500,000 won off that year’s tax. The provision carries its own deadline: marriages registered on or before 31 December 2026. This is the last year. We read Article 92 of the Restriction of Special Taxation Act in the original.
1. 500,000 won off calculated tax. It is deducted from global income calculated tax for the tax period containing the day the marriage was registered (Article 92(1)).
2. Registered on or before 31 December 2026. The text fixes the deadline as a date.
3. Once only. A marriage later annulled and corrected by an amended return does not count towards the once.
What the text fixes — Article 92(1)
Where a resident registers a marriage on or before 31 December 2026, 500,000 won shall be deducted, once only (excluding a case where the marriage became void after registration and a return was filed under paragraph (2)), from the global income calculated tax for the tax period containing the day of registration.
| Item | Text | Our reading |
|---|---|---|
| Who | A resident | The subject is “a resident”, not “a couple”, so each spouse appears to get it |
| Reference date | The day the marriage is registered | Registration, not the wedding |
| Which year | The tax period containing that day | Registered in 2026 means 2026 income — settled at year-end in early 2027 for employees |
| How much | 500,000 won from calculated tax | It comes off calculated tax, so if the tax is smaller, the rest is unused |
| How often | Once only | Nothing in the text distinguishes first marriages from later ones |
Where both spouses have income and each has calculated tax of at least 500,000 won, that is 1,000,000 won between them (500,000 × 2, our arithmetic). The main text does not say from when registrations qualify — the start is presumably in the Addenda, which we did not read this time. Our global income tax article gives it as marriages registered 2024 to 2026, once in a lifetime.
31 December is the dividing line
Because the test is the day of registration, one date decides it.
| Registered on | Article 92 | Year of the credit |
|---|---|---|
| A day in October 2026 | Applies | 2026 income (year-end settlement in early 2027) |
| 31 December 2026 | Applies (reading “on or before” as including the day) | 2026 income |
| 2 January 2027 | Outside the text | — |
The table applies the statutory date to our own examples. It also means a couple whose wedding is in 2027 qualifies if they register within 2026 (our reading). How a holiday on 31 December, or an application carried over to the next day, is treated is not in the text, and we did not check — if you are registering close to year-end, confirm the acceptance date in advance.
What happens afterwards
Unless the deadline is extended, registrations from 2027 get no credit. The government’s 2026 tax reform plan includes abolishing the marriage credit and replacing it with budget support — set out from the plan itself in our 2026 tax reform plan article. The plan must still pass the National Assembly, and the details of that support are not covered here.
If the marriage is annulled — Article 92(2)
- Where the marriage becomes void after the credit was taken, penalties are waived in whole or in part if an amended or late return is filed by the day 3 months from the month after the month in which the annulment judgment becomes final.
- An amount equivalent to interest, calculated as prescribed by Presidential Decree, is added to the income tax.
Annulment is not divorce. This paragraph speaks only of a marriage that “becomes void”; nothing in the text claws the credit back on divorce (our reading).
Checklist
- ☐ Is the registration date on or before 31 December 2026?
- ☐ Does each spouse have calculated tax of at least 500,000 won (less means a smaller credit)?
- ☐ Was the credit claimed at year-end settlement?
- ☐ Has it been used before (once only)?
Questions that remain
What documents are needed?
Article 92(3) leaves the claim procedure and documents to Presidential Decree, which we did not read this time — follow your employer’s or Hometax guidance at year-end.
What if it was missed at year-end?
It can be put right by a May return or a refund claim — see amended returns and refund claims.
And the credit when children arrive?
Child tax credit covers it, including the extra credit in the year of birth or adoption.
Sources
- Restriction of Special Taxation Act [in force 18 September 2026] [Act No. 21467, amended by another Act 17 March 2026] — original text (checked 7 October 2026). Article 92(1) (on or before 31 December 2026; once; 500,000 won), (2) (3 months; interest equivalent) and (3). Newly inserted 31 December 2024.
- Not read. The Addenda on when it starts to apply; the Decree’s claim procedure, documents and interest calculation.
- Our reading and arithmetic. That each spouse qualifies, the 1,000,000 won, the date table, and the distinction between annulment and divorce.
Where to check further
- Preparing for year-end — year-end tax settlement prep.
- All the credits — global income tax.
Written on 7 October 2026. The provisions are as published by the Korea Law Information Center; the reading and arithmetic are ours.
