Tax revenue up 19% in May on higher income, bullish stock market

Officials work at a dealing room in Hana Bank in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

Korea's tax revenue shot up nearly 19 percent in May from a year earlier due to higher incomes and the recent bullish run in the stock market, data showed Tuesday.

The government collected 35.8 trillion won ($23.2 billion) in taxes last month, compared with 30.1 trillion won posted a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Finance and Economy.

The finance ministry attributed the sharp increase to higher income tax collections, which totaled 22 trillion won in May, up 16.5 percent from a year earlier, following gains from overseas securities and property transactions.

Korea also collected 1.3 trillion won in securities transaction tax in May, soaring from just 300 billion won tallied last year.

Corporate tax revenue jumped 9.6 percent on-year to 7.6 trillion won in May, amid improved earnings reports.

For the January-May period, tax revenue came to 199.9 trillion won, up 16 percent from a year earlier.