Tax collection declines by nearly 6tr won on-year in Seoul

Tax revenue collected during the first eight months of this year shrank by nearly 6 trillion won from a year earlier, data showed Friday, affected by the prolonged low economic growth trend. According to the data provided by the National Tax Service (NTS), it had collected about 129.7 trillion won (US$121 billion) in tax revenue during the January-August period. This is down 5.8 trillion won from what was collected a year earlier. The on-year revenue decline stood at 8.3 trillion won until July, but the latest figure showed that tax collection situations are improving in recent months though it still remains lackluster. The NTS also said that the ratio of tax collection to its annual target stood 65.1 percent in the January-August period, which is lower than the 70.5 percent tallied during the same period a year earlier. Corporate tax revenue shrank 3.7 trillion won on-year, affected by the slowing economic growth, while income tax revenue grew about 500 billion won over the same period, the data showed.