SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's tax revenue fell for two straight years last year due to an economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the finance ministry said Tuesday.
National tax income reached 285.5 trillion won (255.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020, down 7.9 trillion won (7.1 billion U.S. dollars), according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
It marked the first time that the country's tax revenue declined for a second consecutive year. In 2019, the national income tax slipped 116.1 billion won (103.9 million U.S. dollars).
The fall in tax revenue came on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit business activity hardly.
The government collected 55.5 trillion won (49.7 billion U.S. dollars) in corporate tax in 2020, down 16.7 trillion won (14.9 billion U.S. dollars) from the previous year.
The collection of taxes from housing and securities transactions grew by 7.6 trillion won (6.8 billion U.S. dollars) and 4.4 trillion won (3.9 billion U.S. dollars) respectively last year.
The increased taxes were attributable to the rally in the housing and stock markets, caused by the ample liquidity.
The government's gross revenue, including tax income, amounted to 465.5 trillion won (416.7 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020, up 63.5 trillion won (56.8 billion U.S. dollars) from a year earlier.
The gross expenditure expanded 56.6 trillion won (506.7 billion U.S. dollars) to 453.8 trillion won (406.3 billion U.S. dollars) last year. Enditem
