Korea¡¯s tax revenue up $26.8 bn in Jan-May on year on improved corporate, individual income

[Graphics by Song Ji-yoon]

Tax revenue in South Korea added 34.8 trillion won ($26.78 billion) on year as of May this year on increased revenue from corporate and income taxes from business recovery from the pandemic-hit 2020, although tax gain from stocks tumbled on 34 percent on bearish market.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on Thursday, the government has collected 196.6 trillion won in taxes for the first five months, gaining 34.8 trillion won from a year earlier. The progress rate of tax revenue, or the percentage of actual tax revenue collected against the newly revised annual target of 396.6 trillion won for this year, was at 49.6 percent.

Tax revenue expanded largely due to a 23 trillion won surge in revenue from corporate tax as companies achieved much improved earnings reports last year. The operating profit of Kospi-listed firms totaled 106.8 trillion won as of December last year, soaring 58.2 percent from the previous year.

Income tax revenue also added 9.1 trillion won or 17.6 percent to 60.7 trillion won as payroll stayed strong this year amid a faster-than-expected recovery. The number of regular workers increased 5.2 percent on year to 15.44 million in the December-April period.

Value added tax revenue gained 3.7 trillion won on growth of consumption and income.

Revenue from levies on stock trade however lost 1.7 trillion won amid soured investor sentiment from faster U.S. tightening. Monthly transactions shriveled 37.2 percent to 389.9 trillion won in April.

Transportation tax revenue fell 2.6 trillion won or 34.3 percent to stop at 5 trillion won in the wake of the fuel tax break.

In May alone, the government collected 28.7 trillion won in taxes, 300 billion won larger than a year ago. Income tax revenue rose 1.1 trillion won, and corporate tax revenue up 1.6 trillion won. Revenue from value added tax was down 1.6 trillion won, transportation tax 500 billion won, and stock transactions 300 billion won.

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