SEOUL, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's national tax revenue grew in July on the back of surging stock trades and inflows of value-added tax (VAT), the finance ministry said Monday.
The tax revenue totaled 51 trillion won (37.1 billion U.S. dollars) in July, up 8.4 trillion won compared to the same month of last year, according to the Ministry of Finance and Economy.
The VAT inflows jumped 3.2 trillion won in the cited month, driven by a growth in final VAT filings for the first half of 2026 and robust import expansion.
The country's imports surged 26.5 percent from a year earlier to 68.57 billion dollars in July.
Revenue from the securities transaction tax added 1.1 trillion won, while the special tax for rural development, levied on stock transactions, mounted 2 trillion won last month.
The expansion was backed by a spike in trading volumes of listed stocks, which skyrocketed 232.4 percent over the year to 2,087.2 trillion won in June.
The collection of income tax climbed 1.8 trillion won in July from a year earlier, supported by higher payroll payouts alongside a recovery in the housing market that increased the collection of capital gains tax.
Most other tax categories logged a modest increase, with the collections of corporate tax, inheritance and gift tax, and individual consumption tax rising 0.1 trillion won each.
Meanwhile, the transportation, energy and environment tax decreased 0.3 trillion won, reflecting the government's decision to expand fuel tax cuts. ■