An official works at the dealing room of Hana Bank in central Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap) South Korea's tax revenue increased nearly 13 percent in April from a year earlier on the back of the recent bullish run in the stock market, data showed Friday.The government collected 55.2 trillion won ($36.8 billion) in taxes last month, compared with 48.9 trillion won posted a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Finance and Economy.The finance ministry attributed the sharp increase to securities transaction levies, which came to 1.3 trillion won in April, soaring from just 200 billion won posted a year earlier.The increase followed a bullish market fueled by the artificial intelligence boom, with the transaction value of listed stocks reaching 1,449.4 trillion won in March, more than quadrupling from a year earlier.Starting this year, South Korea began imposing a new 0.05 percent transaction tax on the main bourse, while the tax rate on the secondary market rose from 0.15 percent to 0.2 percent.Corporate tax revenue also jumped 21.2 percent on-year in April to 12.8 trillion won amid strong earnings by major chipmakers.South Korea collected 9.7 trillion won in income tax in April, up 14.8 percent from a year earlier.For the January-April period, tax revenue came to 164.1 trillion won, up 15.4 percent from a year earlier. (Yonhap)
Tax revenue up 13% in April amid stock market boom
South Korea's tax revenue increased nearly 13 percent in April from a year earlier on the back of the recent bullish run in the stock market, data showed Friday
TL;DRAI
South Korea collected 55.2 trillion won in taxes in April (+12.9% YoY), driven by securities transaction levies that jumped from 200 billion to 1.3 trillion won on AI-fueled market volumes, plus a 21.2% surge in corporate tax from chipmaker earnings. For tech leaders, this signals that AI-driven capital market activity is now a measurable fiscal event — and that semiconductor sector profitability remains robust heading into H2.
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