S. Korea’s tax revenue falls in January-July

SEOUL, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) — South Korea’s tax revenue fell in the first seven months of this year on higher corporate tax benefits, government data showed Thursday.
Tax revenue came in at 208.8 trillion won (155.9 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-July period, down 8.8 trillion won (6.6 billion dollars) compared to the same period of 2023, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Corporate tax collection dropped 15.5 trillion won (11.6 billion dollars) in the seven-month period due to the increased tax benefits for companies.
Income tax revenue grew 100 billion won (74.7 million dollars), while value-added tax revenue expanded 6.2 trillion won (4.6 billion dollars).
Aggregate revenue, including tax and non-tax revenues, advanced 3.9 trillion won (2.9 billion dollars) to 357.2 trillion won (266.7 billion dollars) in the seven-month period.
Total expenditure gained 18.3 trillion won (13.7 billion dollars) to 409.5 trillion won (305.7 billion dollars).
The managed fiscal balance, excluding the social security fund, recorded a deficit of 83.2 trillion won (62.1 billion dollars) in the first seven months of 2024.
The central government’s debt came to 1,159.3 trillion won (865.5 billion dollars) at the end of July, up 13.4 trillion won (10 billion dollars) from a month earlier. ■