The National Tax Service (NTS) is holding a "Short-Form Video Contest" with a total prize pool of 8 million KRW until November 23 to enhance public understanding and interest in the earned and child tax credit systems.

Open to all South Korean citizens, this contest aims to discover policy promotion content created directly by the public through free-form videos covering topics such as personal experiences of receiving the tax credits or institutional reforms.

The National Tax Service is holding a short-form video contest to introduce the earned and child tax credit systems from the perspective of the general public.

Moving away from conventional experience-story-centered promotional methods, this participatory approach encourages citizens to directly produce policy promotional content that will be utilized in actual campaigns.

The NTS is hosting the "Earned and Child Tax Credit Short-Form Video Contest" from the 21st until November 23.

This contest was designed to increase comprehension of the tax credit system—which supports the livelihood stability and child-rearing of low-income working households—and to draw interest from diverse generations, particularly youth.

The contest features three distinct categories: the expansion and reform of the earned income tax credit system, personal experiences of receiving earned and child tax credits, and a general open theme regarding the tax credit system as a whole.

All South Korean citizens can participate individually or in teams of up to four people. Participants can submit up to three entries, one for each category.

Submitted videos must be in a 9:16 vertical format with a duration of 20 to 60 seconds. The resolution must be 1080x1920 or higher, and files should be submitted in MP4 or MOV format.

The NTS plans to announce the winners in December after a comprehensive evaluation of promotional effectiveness, creativity, completeness, and delivery.

One grand prize winner will receive the National Tax Service Commissioner’s Award and a 3 million KRW cash prize, one top excellence prize winner will receive 2 million KRW, and three excellence prize winners will each receive 1 million KRW. The total prize pool amounts to 8 million KRW. Additionally, 50,000 KRW gift certificates will be given to 50 participants each through separate events involving spreading word about the contest and proposing promotional ideas or channels.

The winning works will subsequently be utilized as policy promotion content on the official NTS YouTube channel and social network services (SNS).

This contest also aligns with the expanding trend of earned and child tax credits. Introduced in 2009, the tax credit system is a representative welfare tax administration policy that supplements the real income of low-income working households and eases the burden of raising children.

The payout scale, which stood at 453.7 billion KRW at its initial implementation, surged to 5.2 trillion KRW in 2026. This figure excludes late-application shares, marking approximately an 11.5-fold expansion since its introduction. In particular, the abolition of the age restriction for single-person households in 2009 led to an increase in beneficiaries among the younger demographic.

Among the 4.74 million recipients of the 2025 tax credits, individuals in their 20s accounted for the largest share at 22.5%. They were followed by those in their 40s (17.3%), 50s (15.4%), 30s (15.2%), 70s and older (15.1%), and 60s (14.5%).

Another point of interest is the expansion and reform proposal for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) scheduled to start next year.

The government's 2026 tax law amendment proposal includes plans to relax the income requirement for single-person households from the current under 22 million KRW to under 26 million KRW, and for single-earner households from 32 million KRW to under 37 million KRW.

For dual-income households, the threshold is proposed to be expanded from under 44 million KRW to under 52 million KRW.

Plans are also being pursued to raise the maximum payout amounts: from 1.65 million KRW to 1.8 million KRW for single-person households, from 2.85 million KRW to 3.1 million KRW for single-earner households, and from 3.3 million KRW to 3.6 million KRW for dual-income households.

However, these are not yet finalized systems but rather tax law amendment proposals, which may vary depending on future legislative outcomes.

The NTS places significance on this contest as a means to help the public easily understand these policy changes.

Prospective participants can check the contest guidelines under the notices section on the National Tax Service website (www.nts.go.kr) and apply online.

The NTS plans to reflect creative public ideas into policy promotion, expand the accessibility of the tax credit system, and foster public consensus on welfare tax administration.

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]