Securities transaction tax, agricultural special tax up 14.9 trillion won

Income tax rises 12.2 trillion won; July tax revenue reaches 51 trillion won

The dealing room at Hana Bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul [Yonhap]
The dealing room at Hana Bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul [Yonhap]

National tax revenue collected through July exceeded last year's comparable figure by more than 41 trillion won ($29.7 billion), driven by improved corporate earnings and a booming stock market that sharply boosted securities transaction tax and agricultural special tax receipts. The tax collection progress rate — the share of the annual target collected under the supplementary budget — stood at 66 percent, surpassing both last year's pace and the five-year average.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance's "National Tax Revenue Status for July 2026," released Monday, cumulative national tax revenue for January through July reached 274 trillion won, up 41.4 trillion won, or 17.8 percent, from the same period last year.

The 274 trillion won collected through July represents 66.0 percent of the full-year national tax revenue forecast of 415.4 trillion won under this year's supplementary budget. That is 3.8 percentage points above the 62.2 percent pace recorded at the same point last year and 2.5 percentage points above the five-year trimmed average of 63.5 percent. To meet its annual revenue target, the government must collect an additional 141.4 trillion won over the remaining five months of the year.

Income tax and stock-trading-related levies were the primary drivers of the revenue increase.

Income tax revenue rose 12.2 trillion won from a year earlier to 89.3 trillion won, as higher performance bonuses pushed up wage and salary tax receipts and increased real estate transactions lifted capital gains tax collections.

Securities transaction tax revenue jumped 6.4 trillion won to 8.2 trillion won — a surge of 348.5 percent — on higher share trading volumes and a restoration of the tax rate. The agricultural special tax levied on Kospi trading volume also climbed 8.5 trillion won to 13.1 trillion won.

Combined, the increase in securities transaction tax and agricultural special tax came to 14.9 trillion won, accounting for 36 percent of the total 41.4 trillion won rise in national tax revenue.

The revenue surge reflected both a sharp rise in trading volumes and the effect of the rate restoration. The value of listed share transactions subject to taxation jumped 232.4 percent, from 627.9 trillion won in June last year to 2,087.2 trillion won in June this year. The increase was amplified by the restoration of the securities transaction tax rate to 0.05 percent for Kospi and 0.20 percent for Kosdaq this year.

Value-added tax revenue rose 8.1 trillion won to 69.4 trillion won, boosted by growth in private consumption and imports. Corporate tax collections increased 4.4 trillion won to 51.8 trillion won on improved corporate earnings. Inheritance and gift tax revenue also grew 1.2 trillion won to 11.4 trillion won.

National tax revenue for July alone reached 51 trillion won, up 8.4 trillion won, or 19.7 percent, from the same month last year.

Value-added tax rose 3.2 trillion won, driven by first-half final returns and higher import-related receipts, while income tax expanded 1.8 trillion won on increases in wage and salary tax and capital gains tax.

Securities transaction tax and agricultural special tax rose 1.1 trillion won and 2 trillion won, respectively. By contrast, the transportation, energy and environment tax fell 300 billion won as the fuel tax cut applied to gasoline and diesel was deepened.


fact0514@heraldcorp.com