The government will provide vouchers of up to 250,000 won to ease management burdens for small microbusiness owners.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said applications for the Small Business Management Stability Voucher will open on Feb. 9, ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, with payouts to begin as early as before the holiday.
The Small Business Management Stability Voucher is a program that provides digital vouchers that can be used freely for electricity and gas bills, among other expenses. It was first introduced through a supplementary budget last year to ease management burdens for small business owners. This year, to prioritize support for microbusinesses, eligibility is limited to small business owners with annual sales of less than 104 million won, with a total of 579 billion won to be provided.
Voucher uses newly include traditional market fire insurance premiums, in addition to existing categories such as utility bills, the four major social insurance premiums, and vehicle fuel costs. However, telecommunications fees, which drew controversy over out-of-purpose use such as small payments, were excluded.
Eligible applicants are small business owners who meet all three conditions: ▲ opened before Dec. 31, 2025 ▲ 2025 annual sales (or converted sales) of more than 0 won and less than 104 million won ▲ an enterprise in operation, not suspended or closed, as of the application date. However, if one person is the representative of multiple businesses (regardless of individual or corporation), they may apply for only one enterprise, and for enterprises run by co-representatives, only one lead representative may apply.
All industries except those excluded from small business policy financing—such as entertainment establishments, tobacco brokerage, gambling machines and speculative businesses, and virtual asset trading and brokerage—are eligible, and the support amount is up to 250,000 won per enterprise.
Choi Won-young, head of the Small Business Policy Office, said, "Policy satisfaction among small business owners who participated in last year's program was high," and noted, "We expect this will directly help reduce fixed costs for microbusinesses struggling with management due to the sluggish domestic economy this year as well."