The eligible age for the child tax credit will rise step by step each year in line with the expansion of the age for child allowance payments. The move is aimed at preventing a "double benefit," in which child allowance and the tax credit are received at the same time.
The National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee held a full meeting on the 17th and approved an amendment to the Income Tax Act reflecting this change.
Under the amendment, the eligible age for children for the child tax credit will rise by one year annually from the current age 8 and older to age 9 and older in 2026, age 10 and older in 2027, age 11 and older in 2028, and age 12 and older in 2029. Starting in 2030, the tax credit will be available for children age 13 and older.
Earlier, on the 1st, the National Assembly held a plenary session and passed an amendment to the Child Allowance Act that expands the monthly 100,000 won child allowance eligibility from under age 8 to under age 13 by adding one year each year through 2030.
The latest amendment aligns the age criteria of the two systems to prevent both the cash benefit child allowance and the tax-based child tax credit from being applied simultaneously to the same child.
The child tax credit reduces the tax burden for those with earned income who are raising children: 250,000 won for the first child, 300,000 won for the second, and 400,000 won per child for the third and beyond.