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

SEOUL, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) — South Korea’s tax revenue fell in the first eight months of this year on the back of higher corporate tax benefits, government data showed Thursday.
Tax revenue amounted to 232.2 trillion won (172.2 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-August period, down 9.4 trillion won (7 billion dollars) compared to the same period of last year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Corporate tax collection dived 16.8 trillion won (12.5 billion dollars) in the cited period on the increased tax benefits for companies.
Income tax revenue declined 100 billion won (74.2 million dollars), but value-added tax revenue expanded 7.1 trillion won (5.3 billion dollars).
Aggregate revenue, including tax and non-tax revenues, advanced 2.3 trillion won (1.7 billion dollars) to 396.7 trillion won (294.2 billion dollars) in the eight-month period.
Total expenditure gained 21.3 trillion won (15.8 billion dollars) to 447.0 trillion won (331.5 billion dollars).
The managed fiscal balance, excluding social security fund, recorded a deficit of 84.2 trillion won (62.4 billion dollars) in the first eight months of 2024.
The central government’s debt came to 1,167.3 trillion won (865.6 billion dollars) at the end of August, up 8.0 trillion won (5.9 billion dollars) from a month earlier. ■