Korea's youth housing subscription account is usually sold as "the same subscription account, with extra benefits." Read the statute and those benefits turn out to be two separate schemes - an exemption on interest (Special Tax Act art. 87(3)) and a deduction (art. 87(2)) - with two sets of conditions, two different years being read, and two different clocks for clawback.
1. The exemption. Interest is tax-free up to 5,000,000 won, on payments capped at 6,000,000 won a year across all institutions. It requires you to be 19 to 34 at opening with LAST year's total pay at 36,000,000 won or less.
2. The deduction. 40% of up to 3,000,000 won a year - a maximum of 1,200,000 won. It has no age test, reads THIS tax year, and sets the line at 70,000,000 won of total pay.
3. Two clocks. On closure the exemption is recovered within two years of the contract date and the deduction within five years of opening. Close in year three and only the deduction is clawed back.
It reads art. 87 of the Restriction of Special Taxation Act and art. 81 of its Decree as written. The interest exemption (art. 87(3)) covers up to 5,000,000 won of total interest from a youth housing subscription account opened by 31 December 2028, on payments capped at 6,000,000 won a year across all institutions. It requires that at opening you were a "young person as prescribed by Decree" and the head, or the spouse of the head, of a household owning no home, with total pay of 36,000,000 won or less in the previous tax year (where that is all you had) or aggregate income of 26,000,000 won or less, and a contract of two years or more. "Young" is defined by Decree art. 81(14) as 19 to 34 at the date of opening, including anyone whose age less military service, capped at six years, is 34 or under - taken here in months and converted back to whole years. The deduction (art. 87(2)) applies regardless of age where this year's total pay is 70,000,000 won or less, and is 40% of up to 3,000,000 won a year. Recovery runs on different clocks: the exemption within two years of the contract date (art. 87(6)2), the deduction within five years of opening (art. 87(7)1). The no-home certificate is likewise due by the end of February of the following year for the deduction and within two years of opening for the exemption (art. 87(4)). Interest amounts, preferential rates, subscription points and the income-certificate procedure are not covered. An estimate - confirm with your bank or Hometax.
One account, two clocks
This is the most confusing part of the account: the clawback periods differ by scheme.
- The interest exemption - art. 87(6)2: "youth housing subscription account: two years." Withdraw principal or interest, or terminate, within two years of the contract date and the tax exempted is recovered.
- The deduction - art. 87(7)1: "where the savings contract is terminated within five years of the date of opening," 6% of the cumulative amount paid in is recovered.
That makes three windows. Inside two years, both; between two and five years, the deduction only; past five years, neither (our arithmetic).
Some grounds excuse both. Decree art. 81(6)3 and art. 81(11)2 point at the same list - within the six months before closing: a natural disaster, the saver's retirement, closure of the business, an injury or illness needing three months or more of hospital care or convalescence, or the bank's suspension, loss of licence, dissolution or bankruptcy. And winning a home at or under the national housing size excuses both as well (art. 81(6)2 and (11)1).
"Young" is not just an age - service is subtracted
Art. 87(3)1 says only "a young person as prescribed by Presidential Decree," and Decree art. 81(14) picks it up: "a person aged 19 or over and 34 or under as at the date of opening the account." Then a parenthesis follows.
"... including, where military service was performed, a person whose age at the date of opening less that period (capped at six years) is 34 or under."
Someone aged 36 who served 24 months counts as 34. With the six-year cap, 72 months of service carries you to 40, and 90 months still only subtracts 72, so 41 does not make it (our arithmetic).
That is why Decree art. 81(15) asks anyone aged 35 or over at opening to file proof of military service alongside the income certificate. Thirty-five is the age at which an extra document appears.
Two income tests, reading different years
This is the second place people trip.
| Item | Interest exemption (para. 3) | Deduction (para. 2) |
|---|---|---|
| Year read | Previous tax year | Current tax year |
| Total pay | 36,000,000 won or less | 70,000,000 won or less |
| Aggregate income | 26,000,000 won or less | — |
| Age | 19 to 34 (service subtracted) | none |
| Contract term | two years or more | — |
| Payments counted | 6,000,000 won a year | 3,000,000 won a year |
| Certificate | within two years of opening | by end of February next year |
| Clawback window | two years from the contract | five years from opening |
The gap between "previous" and "current" bites in practice. Earn more last year and you lose only the exemption; earn more this year and you lose only the deduction. One account, and the answer can change from year to year.
The exemption's income test has two limbs. Item (a) is total pay of 36,000,000 won or less for someone with employment income only (excluding those with exempt income alone); item (b) is aggregate income of 26,000,000 won or less (excluding anyone whose previous-year pay exceeded 36,000,000 won). Either one will do. This checker reads item (a) only.
Switching over carries the time with it
Someone who already holds an ordinary subscription account has to close it to open the youth one. Does that trigger the five-year clawback?
It does not. Decree art. 81(11)3 excludes "termination of an ordinary housing subscription account in order to open a youth housing subscription account."
And subparagraph 4 continues the thought: when that person later closes the youth account, it is also excluded where "the combined period of the terminated ordinary account and the youth account exceeds five years." The two accounts' periods are added together.
Questions this leaves
Do I get the exemption and the deduction together?
Yes. The youth account is still a housing subscription account, so art. 87(2) applies, with the art. 87(3) interest exemption on top. Each has to be qualified for separately, which is what this checker separates out.
Why does it not show how much interest I earn?
The rate is not in the statute. The preferential rate is set on the housing fund side and is outside this article. What the provisions fix is the 5,000,000 won ceiling on exempt interest and the 6,000,000 won a year of payments the exemption attaches to.
How long can accounts be opened?
Paragraph 3 covers accounts opened "by 31 December 2028."
Do I file the no-home certificate twice?
The timing differs. Art. 87(4)1 wants it by the end of February of the following year for the deduction; subparagraph 2 wants it within two years of opening for the exemption. The document itself is the single "no-home certificate" of Decree art. 81(5) - it is when you file that changes.
How far does "household" reach?
Decree art. 81(10) - the resident and their spouse, plus lineal ascendants and descendants (and their spouses) and siblings sharing the same address and living costs. The resident and spouse are one household even living apart, and where both are heads, only one is treated as the head.
Sources
- Restriction of Special Taxation Act - the statute itself - the source for art. 87(2) (the deduction: this year's pay at 70,000,000 won or less, 3,000,000 won a year, 40%), (3) (the youth account: 31 December 2028, 5,000,000 won of interest, 6,000,000 won a year, previous-year pay at 36,000,000 won or less or aggregate income at 26,000,000 won or less, a two-year contract), (4) (when each certificate is due), (6)2 (two-year clawback of the exemption) and (7)1 (five-year clawback of the deduction). Korean Law Information Center
- Enforcement Decree of the Act - the text itself - the source for art. 81(5) (the no-home certificate), (6) (grounds excusing the exemption clawback), (10) (what a household is), (11) (grounds excusing the deduction clawback, switching accounts, adding the periods), (14) ("young" as 19 to 34 with service subtracted up to six years) and (15) (proof of service where 35 or over). Korean Law Information Center
- Our arithmetic - that 36 with 24 months served reads as 34, 40 with 72 months as 34, and 41 with 90 months as 35, and the three windows the two-year and five-year rules create, are ours, computed from the provisions above. The checker was tested against the same arithmetic across 4,800 combinations in both languages.
What to check elsewhere
- The preferential rate and the interest itself. Outside the statute - ask your bank for the current rate.
- The income certificate. Decree art. 81(15) requires one issued by the tax office at opening, with an exception where income first arose in the previous tax year.
- Recognised payment rounds and subscription points. Those belong to the housing supply rules - see the subscription basics and the points calculator.
- The transitional rule for a householder's spouse. A proviso in Decree art. 81(15) sets a filing date of 31 December 2026 for that group - check with your bank if it applies to you.
Based on the 2026 provisions. The conditions, ceilings and periods are the statute's own; the age arithmetic and the windows are ours. The checker is an estimate - confirm eligibility and paperwork with your bank. For the deduction side see the housing subscription deduction calculator, for housing relief as a whole the housing loan deduction, and for the subscription itself the subscription basics.
