As corporations have improved their performances, corporate taxes increased, resulting in over 8 trillion won more tax revenue collected last month compared to the same month last year.
According to the 'April National Tax Revenue Status' announced by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 30th, national tax revenue last month amounted to 48.9 trillion won, an increase of 8.2 trillion won (20.2%) compared to April of last year.
The increase was primarily due to corporate taxes, which rose by 6.5 trillion won (160.0%) compared to the same month last year, totaling 10.6 trillion won. This growth was attributed to operating profits of corporations listed on the KOSPI market growing from 38.7 trillion won in 2023 to 106.2 trillion won in 2024.
Value-added taxes stood at 21 trillion won, reflecting an increase of 900 billion won (4.3%) compared to last April. The rise in imports was caused by the Korean won to U.S. dollar exchange rate increasing by nearly 80 won within a year. The tariff also surged by 2 billion won (50.3%) to record 7 billion won due to the impact of the rising exchange rate.
Income tax increased by 600 billion won (8.3%) to reach 8.5 trillion won, driven by an increase in the number of workers and total payroll payments. Transportation, energy, and environmental taxes saw an increase of 200 billion won to 1.1 trillion won due to the restoration of fuel tax elasticity. In contrast, the security transaction tax decreased by 200 billion won to 200 billion won as trading volumes declined.
As of April, the cumulative national tax revenue reached 142.2 trillion won, an increase of 16.6 trillion won compared to the same period last year. The progress rate compared to the budget stands at 37.2%. This is similar to last year's progress rate (37.3%) but slightly lower than the average progress rate (38.3%) over the past five years.
The tax revenue progress rates from last year and the past five years are based on the settlement of accounts. According to the main budget, the progress rate in April last year was 34.2%, while the rate in April 2023 was 33.5%.
The outlook for future tax revenue is difficult to be optimistic about. Signals of economic recession are emerging everywhere, and uncertainties surrounding the tariff policies of the Trump administration in the U.S. remain unresolved.
Choi Moon-kyun, head of tax analysis at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, noted, "Last year, the performance of corporations fell short of initial expectations, and the progress rate is also weaker than usual." He explained, "As uncertainties regarding tariff policies have expanded, we need to monitor the tax revenue trends until the second half of the year."