Tax revenue up 37.3 tln won in first seven months of this year

SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s tax revenue grew 37.3 trillion won (US$27.8 billion) in the first seven month of this year from a year ago as the collection of corporate and income taxes amid the economic recovery, the finance ministry said Tuesday.

Tax revenue amounted to 261 trillion won in the January-July period, compared with 223.7 trillion won the previous year, according to the ministry.

In July alone, tax revenue increased 800 billion won on-year to 42.7 trillion won.

South Korea has posted a surplus of tax revenue as Asia’s fourth-largest economy has recovered from the fallout of the pandemic.

In the first seven months, the nation collected corporate taxes of 65.6 trillion won, up 23.9 trillion won from a year earlier, as companies’ earnings increased. The collection of income taxes increased 9.3 trillion won to 80.7 trillion won.

The government saw the collection of value-added taxes rise 5.5 trillion won to 62.9 trillion won, led by increased private spending and imports.

But the collection of stock transactions taxes fell 2.1 trillion won on-year to 4.2 trillion won due to sluggish stock markets.

The ministry forecast the collection of national taxes to reach 397 trillion won this year, up 15.4 percent from last year. Next year, the government’s tax revenue is likely to amount to 400.5 trillion won.

In June, the finance ministry unveiled its sweeping tax cut plan that is focused on lowering corporate, income and property taxes.

With the tax reform, the government aims to encourage firms to spur investment and reduce the tax burden on people troubled by high inflation.