Top 1% earn W4.45b in investment income in 2016

Top 1 percent of South Korean taxpayers earned an average 4.45 billion won ($3.87 million) in investment income in 2016, data showed Wednesday.

Their average investment income was 18.3 times bigger than the average income from salaries of top 1 percent earners, according to the data by the National Tax Service. 

In 2016, top 1 percent earned 243 million won in income from wages, the data showed.

Investment income accounted for 34.1 percent of total earnings from top 1 percent earners, followed by income from businesses with 22.1 percent, rental income with 18 percent and income from salary with 7.3 percent, the latest findings showed.

The data showed that an income gap between investment and salary income had widened.

In a statement, Rep. Kim Doo-gwan of the ruling Democratic Party called for the government to abolish some tax break rules on investment income to help bridge the income gap. (Yonhap)