Tax revenue up by nearly 20 tln won in H1

South Korea's tax revenue increased by nearly 20 trillion won ($18.2 billion) in the first six months of the year on an increase in corporate and value-added taxes, the government said Wednesday.

In the January-June period, the government collected 125.6 trillion won, up from 106.6 trillion won tallied over the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

The six-month tally represents 56.3 percent of the government's annual target of 222.9 trillion won.

Corporate tax gained 5.9 trillion won from a year earlier to 28.4 trillion won in the first six months of the year, while the revenue from value-added taxes came to 30.7 trillion won, up 5.8 trillion won over the cited period, the ministry said.

Income tax also added 4.9 trillion won from a year earlier to 35.5 trillion won on a rise in real estate transactions.

With a sharp rise in tax revenue, overall government income also climbed to 207.1 trillion won from 186.4 trillion won a year earlier.

Total government spending reached 215.1 trillion won over the six-month period, up from 210.3 trillion a year earlier, with the government balance posting a deficit of 8.1 trillion won.

As of end-June, overall government debt stood at 591.7 trillion won, up from 592.7 trillion won a month earlier. (Yonhap)