[Sejong = E-Daily Reporter Song Ju-Oh ] Thanks to a surge in corporate income tax driven by the semiconductor boom, national tax revenue through September of this year exceeded last year’s total by more than 95 trillion won. Tax revenue for the month of September alone was nearly double that of a year ago. Tax revenue collected through September already amounts to 93% of the revenue target set in the supplementary budget.

According to the “Status of National Tax Revenue for September 2026” released by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 30th, national tax revenue in September totaled 55.2 trillion won, an increase of 26.4 trillion won (91.6%) compared to the same month last year. Cumulative national tax revenue from January through September totaled 385 trillion won, an increase of 95.4 trillion won (33.0%) compared to a year ago. The cumulative increase, which stood at 69.1 trillion won through August, surged by more than 26 trillion won in just one month.

Most of the increase came from corporate income tax. Corporate income tax revenue in September totaled 36.2 trillion won, up 23.6 trillion won (187.6%) from a year ago. As earnings improved significantly in the first half of the year—particularly among semiconductor companies—a large volume of interim tax payments was collected. Corporate tax revenue collected through September totaled 127.8 trillion won, an increase of 51.9 trillion won compared to last year. This figure has already exceeded the annual corporate tax budget set in the supplementary budget (101.3 trillion won) by more than 26 percent and represents 93.7 percent of the revised annual forecast (136.4 trillion won).

The booming stock market also boosted tax revenue. The trading value of listed stocks in August reached 991.2 trillion won, more than double the figure from a year ago (453.4 trillion won). Securities transaction tax revenue reached 9.9 trillion won through September, four times the level of a year ago. The restoration of the KOSPI securities transaction tax rate to 0.05% this year—from 0% last year—also contributed to this increase. The Special Tax for Agriculture and Fisheries, which is linked to KOSPI trading volume, rose by 10.3 trillion won to a cumulative total of 16.4 trillion won.

Revenue from other tax categories also generally increased. Income tax rose by a cumulative 15.7 trillion won, driven by higher employment income tax due to expanded performance bonuses and higher capital gains tax resulting from increased real estate transactions. In September alone, tax revenue increased by an additional 1.2 trillion won as the number of employed individuals and total wages rose. Value-added tax rose by 7.4 trillion won due to increases in imports and private consumption; inheritance and gift tax rose by 2 trillion won due to an increase in residential property gifts; and customs duties rose by 500 billion won due to increased imports. In contrast, the transportation, energy, and environmental tax decreased by 200 billion won due to the expansion of the reduced flexible tax rate on fuel.

Tax revenue is proceeding smoothly in line with the government’s revised projection. On the 30th of last month, the government revised its projection, estimating that this year’s national tax revenue would reach 478.6 trillion won—63.2 trillion won more than the supplementary budget (415.4 trillion won). Tax revenue collected through September amounts to 80.5% of this revised projection, which is 4.8 percentage points higher than the budget execution rate (75.7%) at the same point last year.

To meet the revised projection, an additional 93.6 trillion won must be collected over the remaining three months. This is approximately 9 trillion won more than the amount collected during the same period last year (84.3 trillion won). The key factor will be whether the momentum in stock market trading and corporate earnings continues through the end of the year. If tax revenue exceeds the revised projection, the tax surplus will grow further.

Attention is also focused on how the increased tax revenue will be used. The government plans to allocate a significant portion of the excess tax revenue to the Future Response Fund, which will be launched next year, and use part of it to reduce the volume of government bond issuance. The maximum amount that can be allocated to the fund is 56.2 trillion won, which represents the excess domestic tax revenue. The government has already reduced the volume of treasury bond issuance in October by 5 trillion won compared to the original plan.