The "earned income" tax credit provided to wage earners with low income who find it difficult to make ends meet has shown a clear trend of "aging." On the 26th, the National Tax Service reported that the number of households with individuals aged 60 and over receiving the tax credit increased by 60,000 compared to the same period last year.
Among all recipients of the earned income tax credit, the proportion of households with individuals aged 60 and over rose from 39% to 42%, an increase of 3 percentage points (p). This means that 4 out of 10 households receiving the tax credit have individuals aged 60 and over.
The National Tax Service plans to start distributing the second half of the 2024 earned income tax credit from the 26th to help stabilize the lives of struggling wage-earning households.
The number of households eligible for the worker's child tax credit this time is 2 million. The total amount to be paid is 1.8345 trillion won. Including the 578.9 billion won of the earned income tax credit already paid in December last year for the first half of 2024, a total of 2.4134 trillion won will be distributed to 2.12 million households for both the first and second halves of 2024.
Compared to the first and second halves of 2023, the number of eligible households has increased by 50,000, and the payment amount has increased by 45.4 billion won.
Looking closely at the payment recipients for the second half of 2024, due to the expansion of elderly jobs, the number of households eligible for payments aged 60 and over has risen to 830,000, an increase of 60,000 compared to the second half of last year (770,000 households). The proportion of those aged 60 and over in the total also increased from 39% (second half of 2023) to 42% (second half of 2024), an increase of 3 percentage points.
By household type, the increase in single-person households has resulted in one-person households making up 1.3 million, or 65% of the total. With the relaxation of income criteria, the number of eligible dual-income households also increased by 40,000. Last year, the income criteria for the earned income tax credit for dual-income households were raised from 38 million won to 44 million won.
A representative from the National Tax Service said, "We will implement welfare taxation to be a strong support so that all citizens can ensure a happy basic life together."