S. Korea's 2020 tax revenue drops by 7.9 trillion won

South Korea collected 285.5 trillion won in taxes in 2020, dropping 7.9 trillion won from the 293.5 trillion won collected the previous year as corporate tax earnings declined amid the pandemic.

Last year, the collection of corporate taxes only reached a four-year low of 55.5 trillion won, declining 16.7 trillion won on-year.

But the government an income tax revenue of 93 trillion won, advancing 9.5 trillion won on-year with housing transactions increasing and the number of permanent workers rising.

South Korea also garnered an 8.8 trillion won income from stock transaction taxes, representing a 4.3 trillion won on-year increase, due to the stock market's bull run with prices soaring about 30 percent.

For fiscal 2020, South Korea posted an income of 465.5 trillion won, up 63.5 trillion won on-year.

With gross expenditures at 453.8 trillion won plus 2.3 trillion won worth of the balance carried forward to 2020, South Korea posted a 9.4 trillion won surplus last year.

It marked the sixth straight year for the country to log such a surplus.

The country's debt is seen reaching 956 trillion won in 2021 from 150.8 trillion won last year.

Its debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio is forecast to reach 47.3 percent this year.