By Kang Yoon-seung
SEOUL, Aug. 31 (Yonhap) — Figures released on Thursday showed that South Korea’s tax revenue had decreased 43.3 trillion won (US$32.7 billion) year-on-year in the January-July period of 2020, due to diminishing corporate earnings and a property market downturn.
According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the total amount of taxes collected was 217.6 trillion won, a decrease from the 261 trillion won recorded in the same period of the previous year. This was mainly due to a drop of 12.7 trillion won in income tax and 17.1 trillion won in corporate tax.
Transportation taxes also decreased by 700 billion won as the government reduced taxes on fuels to tackle inflation.
In July alone, the government collected 39.1 trillion won in taxes, down 3.7 trillion won from the previous year. This was attributed to the lower amount of capital gains and gift tax collected, as the number of traded homes dropped 12.7 percent from the year before.
Earlier this week, the government announced that it intends to collect 367.4 trillion won in total national taxes in 2021, a decrease of 8.2 percent from the 400.5 trillion won planned for 2023.
This undated file photo provided by the Ministry of Economy and Finance shows its headquarters located in the central city of Sejong. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
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