Tax revenue rises for 8th straight month in Aug.

SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's tax revenue rose for the eighth straight month in August amid an economic recovery and a boom in asset markets, the finance ministry said Tuesday.

The country collected 24.6 trillion won (US$20.5 billion) in taxes in August, up 600 billion won from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The government said tax revenue has increased so far this year as corporate tax income has risen in line with the economic recovery, while a boom in the stock and property markets jacked up capital gains tax income.

But the August gain sharply slowed from a 6.3 trillion-won on-year increase in July.

In the first eight months of the year, tax revenue increased 55.7 trillion won on-year to 248.2 trillion won.

In the January-August period, the government's total income, including tax revenue, came to 397.5 trillion won, up 79.7 trillion won from the previous year.

The country's gross expenditures grew 38.6 trillion won on-year to 427.3 trillion won in the cited period due to increased fiscal spending over the pandemic.

Accordingly, the country posted a fiscal deficit of 29.8 trillion won in the eight-month period, improving from a shortfall of 70.9 trillion won a year earlier.

The central government debt amounted to 927.2 trillion won as of end-August, up from 819.2 trillion won at the end of last year. The ministry earlier forecast such debt will reach 937.8 trillion won this year.

The finance ministry proposed a record high budget of 604.4 trillion won for next year to maintain its expansionary fiscal policy. This will mark an 8.3 percent increase from this year's 558 trillion won.

With the big spending plan, the country's national debt is expected to reach 1,068.3 trillion won next year and the debt-to-GDP ratio will hit 50.2 percent, according to the ministry's estimate.

But the government said the country is expected to log a smaller fiscal deficit in 2022 as tax revenue will increase in line with the economic rebound.

sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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