Uncollected National Tax Revenue of 8.5 Trillion Won as of This November

Ministry of Economy and Finance November National Tax Revenue Status

National tax revenue collected up to last month this year was 8.5 trillion won less than the previous year. However, with tax revenue meeting expectations for three consecutive months including this month, the annual tax revenue for this year is expected to converge with the government's revised forecast.

According to the "2024 November National Tax Revenue Status" announced by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 31st, tax revenue from January to November this year amounted to 315.7 trillion won. This is 8.5 trillion won (2.6%) less than the same period last year.

The progress rate against the national tax revenue budget (367.3 trillion won) is 86.0%. This is an improvement compared to the progress rate of 81.0% for the same period last year, which experienced the worst tax shortfall in history.

Tax revenue for November alone was 22.2 trillion won, an increase of 3.1 trillion won (16.5%) compared to the same month last year. With tax revenue meeting expectations this month as well, the annual national tax revenue for this year is expected to align with the revised tax revenue forecast. Earlier, the Ministry of Economy and Finance projected in the September tax revenue revision that this year’s tax revenue would be 337.7 trillion won, falling short of the revenue budget (367.3 trillion won) by 29.6 trillion won (8.1%).

By tax category, corporate tax collected from January to November totaled 60.2 trillion won, a sharp decrease of 17.8 trillion won (22.8%) compared to the previous year. Income tax revenue up to last month was 109.2 trillion won, an increase of 1.4 trillion won (1.3%) from the same period last year. The Ministry explained that this was due to an increase in interest income tax amid sustained high interest rates, and a rise in earned income tax due to increased employment and wage growth.

Yoon Soo-hyun, head of the Tax Analysis Division at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said regarding the increase in income tax, "Income tax revenue was strong last month as automakers increased performance bonuses," and added, "There was also an effect of increased real estate transactions centered in the Seoul area in July and August flowing into capital gains tax."

Along with corporate tax and income tax, value-added tax (VAT), one of the three major tax categories, also increased. VAT revenue from January to November was 79.6 trillion won, up 7.3 trillion won (10.1%). This is analyzed to be due to increased consumption and a decrease in refund amounts. Inheritance and gift tax revenue amounted to 14.3 trillion won, 1.3 trillion won (10.0%) more than the same period last year.

Securities transaction tax revenue was 4.4 trillion won, down 1.2 trillion won (21.9%) from the previous year despite stock trading volume maintaining last year’s level. This decline is attributed to the expanded effect of the tax rate reduction. While the government postponed the introduction of the financial investment income tax, it decided to lower the securities transaction tax rate from 0.2% last year to 0.18% this year.

Customs duties were 500 billion won (6.9%) less collected due to a decrease in import volume and the implementation of emergency tariff quotas, and comprehensive real estate tax revenue also decreased by 500 billion won (26.7%) compared to a year ago.