우리나라 근로장려세제의 현황 및 정책과제

Korea’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a refundable tax credit given to a claimant whose family’s (or a claimant and his/her spouse’s) annualized earned income is less than KRW 17 million. The amount of tax credit is categorized into three tiers based on earned income of the claimant. The objective of EITC is to give an incentive for the working poor to participate in economic activities more aggressively and to support their real income. The main beneficiary of EITC is those who are just above the poverty line. The amount of credit is categorized into three tiers；for the lowest tier, the more a claimant earns, the more EITC he/she gets. EITC will be given for the first time in 2009 and is calculated on the basis of 2008’s earned income. The maximum EITC is KRW 1.2 million. EITC for a qualifying couple who earns less than KRW 8 million a year is 15% of their annualized earned income. If their earned income is between KRW 8 million and 1.2 million, their EITC is fixed as KRW 1.2 million. As of 2009, EITC is expected to be KRW 470 billion in total and will be granted to about 630 thousand households. EITC is expected to function as a social safety net for the working poor, to help low-income workers to alleviate poverty and stand on their own feet, to give an incentive for them to participate in economic activities, and to improve efficiency and equality in tax and welfare policies. What should be taken into account for EITC is to expand the target group and the amount of credit within the boundary of the national budget while considering policy objectives such as grasping the exact source of income to decide EITC, finding out methods to calculate demand and to raise required capital, building more fundamental ground for EITC, enhancing educational and promotional activities about EITC, expanding the coverage of EITC gradually, defining relations with EITC and the national basic living security system, and deciding whether EITC should be applied to foreigners.