Last Year, a Total of 90 Charges Amounting to 21.4 Trillion Won Paid... Increase After 3 Years, Why?

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] The total amount of 90 types of charges collected by the government last year amounted to 21.4 trillion won, an increase of 1.2 trillion won (6.2%) compared to the previous year.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on the 29th that it held the '4th Charges Operation Deliberation Committee Meeting for 2022' in writing, chaired by Second Vice Minister Choi Sang-dae, to discuss the comprehensive report on the operation of charges for 2021.

Charges refer to monetary payment obligations imposed by law for specific public interest projects, other than taxes. The amount of charges collected, which had decreased for two consecutive years in 2019 and 2020, turned to an increasing trend after three years.

The government analyzed that this was due to an increase in guarantee scale following the expansion of housing finance demand and an increase in imports of petroleum products such as naphtha due to the recovery of the petrochemical industry. Last year, the contribution to the Housing Finance Credit Guarantee Fund was 881.8 billion won, up 111.4 billion won from the previous year, and the charges on imports and sales of petroleum and petroleum alternative fuels increased by 177.5 billion won to 1.4849 trillion won. A total of 1.7 trillion won increased across 54 types of charges.

On the other hand, 31 types of charges decreased by a total of 500 billion won due to the impact of COVID-19 and other factors. Casino operator payments decreased by 85.8 billion won last year, down 183.8 billion won from the previous year. Environmental improvement charges also decreased by 60.4 billion won due to a reduction in the number of subjects subject to charges, such as early scrapping of old diesel vehicles.

Among the charges collected last year, 18.3 trillion won (85.4%) was allocated to central government funds and special accounts. Local governments received 2.4 trillion won (11.4%), and public institutions received 700 billion won (3.2%) respectively.

By sector, the financial sector used the largest amount of 5.4 trillion won (25.4%). The industrial and energy sector used 4.7 trillion won (22.2%), health and medical 3 trillion won (13.8%), environment 2.8 trillion won (13.0%), and land and transportation 1.5 trillion won (6.8%) in order.

The government plans to submit the comprehensive report on the operation of charges containing these details to the National Assembly by the end of this month.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance stated, "Since charges used as funds for various public interest projects can be a burden on the public and businesses, we will strengthen charge management through evaluation of charge operation," and added, "We plan to efficiently operate and manage charges by transparently disclosing basic information such as the imposition performance and usage details of charges to the public every year."