South Korea’s national tax revenue reached 385 trillion won from January through September 2026, up 95.4 trillion won, or 33.0%, from the same period a year earlier. The sharp increase was led by corporate tax receipts as improved operating results at semiconductor companies translated into larger tax payments.
Corporate tax revenue totaled 36.2 trillion won in September alone, rising 23.6 trillion won, or 187.6%, from a year earlier. The increase reflected both stronger corporate earnings, particularly among semiconductor companies, and payments from the installment portion of interim corporate tax prepayments.
Corporate tax delivers most of the increase
Across the first nine months, corporate tax receipts increased by 51.9 trillion won, or 68.3%, accounting for more than half of the overall gain in national tax revenue. September’s total tax intake was 55.2 trillion won, an increase of 26.4 trillion won, or 91.6%, compared with the same month in 2025.
Other revenue sources also strengthened. Cumulative income tax receipts rose by 15.7 trillion won, or 16.5%, as employment and total wages increased and stronger housing transactions supported capital gains tax collections. In September, inheritance and gift tax revenue increased by 200 billion won, securities transaction tax by 500 billion won, and the special tax for rural communities by 800 billion won. Value-added tax receipts fell by 22.5 billion won in September because of higher refunds, but remained 7.4 trillion won higher for the January-to-September period.
The government’s revised full-year national tax revenue forecast stood at 478.6 trillion won at the end of September, 63.2 trillion won above the estimate used when the supplementary budget was prepared in March. By September, the collection rate had reached 80.5% of the revised annual forecast, exceeding both the previous year’s final-budget pace of 77.5% and the recent five-year average of 78.2%.