S. Korea's tax revenue larger by more than $46 bn from a year ago by Nov

South Korea collected more than 55 trillion won ($46.2 billion) in tax revenue in the first 11 months of last year from a year-ago period, missing original surplus estimate by 9 trillion won by November.

According to monthly fiscal balance released by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on Thursday, Korea collected 323.4 trillion won in tax revenue between January and November last year, up 55.6 trillion won from the same period a year ago. Tax surplus during the period came to 9.1 trillion won given 314.3 trillion won in tax revenue estimation set by the government in July when it designed second supplementary budget.

This means that the government has already exceeded tax revenue estimate for the full year in November.

Revenue from income tax, corporate tax, and value-added tax all exceeded government estimate.

Income tax gained 20.2 trillion won on solid asset market and improved job figures. Corporate tax also increased 14.7 trillion won amid economic recovery while value-added tax 6.1 trillion won.

Ko Kwang-hyo, head of tax policy at the ministry, said that the government’s tax surplus reached 9.1 trillion won last year until November and that tax surplus for the full year is expected to be higher than the initial estimate of 19 trillion won given that tax revenue in December is projected to be slightly higher than 17.7 trillion won in the same month a year ago.

The government in 2020 expected 2021 tax revenue to be at 282.7 trillion won. The total increased to 314.3 trillion won when it added 31.6 trillion won in excess tax in July when it presented second extra budget. In November, it added 19 trillion won to raise total to 333.3 trillion won, which all add up to 58.4 trillion won in excess tax versus the original projection.

The government’s total income in the January-November period which includes tax revenue and non-tax revenue reached 523.9 trillion won, up 86.1 trillion won from a year ago, data showed.

The country’s gross expenditures rose 45.2 trillion won to 546.3 trillion won during the cited period, resulting to a fiscal deficit of 22.4 trillion won, down 40.9 trillion won from a year ago.

Managed fiscal balance that shows the government’s actual fiscal conditions, registered 77 trillion won deficit in the first 11 months, 21.3 trillion won smaller than the same period a year ago.

Estimated national debt as of December stood at 939.1 trillion won, data showed.

As of end of last year, the government issued 180.5 trillion won in treasury bonds, down 5.8 trillion won from its 186.3 trillion won plan.

Excess tax revenue is expected to give impetus to political reasoning for a supplementary budget before the presidential election in March.

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]