S. Korea's tax revenue up in Feb. amid economic recovery

SEOUL, April 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's tax revenue rose 1.4 trillion won (US$1.1 billion) in February compared to a year earlier as the collection of income and corporate taxes increased amid the economic recovery, the finance ministry said Thursday.

The government collected 20.3 trillion won in taxes in February, compared with 19 trillion won the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The tally was lower than an on-year increase of 10.8 trillion won in January, when the government collected more deferred taxes over the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the country has continued to log a surplus of tax revenue as the South Korean economy has been on a recovery track.

The collection of income taxes rose 5.2 trillion won on-year to 17.2 trillion won in the month and that of corporate taxes gained 300 billion won to 1.2 trillion won.

In the first two months of this year, the tax revenue came to 70 trillion won, up 12.2 trillion won from a year ago.

The government's total revenue, including tax collection, increased 9 trillion won on-year to 106.1 trillion won in the two-month period. Its gross expenditures rose 11.4 trillion won on-year to 121.2 trillion won.

As a result, the country posted a fiscal deficit of 15.1 trillion won in the two-month period, larger than a shortfall of 12.7 trillion won a year earlier.

The ministry earlier said the national debt is forecast to exceed the 1,000 trillion-won mark for the first time this year due to expansionary fiscal spending.

The government said it plans to normalize COVID-19-related emergency spending to pre-pandemic levels next year and cut non-priority expenditures in a bid to enhance fiscal health.

sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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