[Interim Release of National Tax Statistics②] SME Tax Reduction of 1.3 Trillion Won... 30.8% of All Receive Tax Relief

2021 National Tax Statistics 3rd Ad Hoc Release

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The amount of tax reductions claimed by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that filed corporate tax last year exceeded 1.3 trillion won. A total of 234,970 corporations received tax reductions, accounting for 30.8% of all reporting SMEs.

According to national tax statistics released on the National Tax Statistics Portal (TASIS) by the National Tax Service on the 29th, the amount of tax reductions claimed by SMEs that filed corporate tax last year reached 1.3332 trillion won. Among the total 762,314 reporting SMEs, 234,970 corporations, or 30.8%, received tax reductions.

By reduction category, the Small and Medium Enterprise Special Tax Reduction was the largest at 987.9 billion won (74.1%), followed by Startup SME Tax Reduction (106.7 billion won, 8.0%) and Startup Venture SME Tax Reduction (87.4 billion won, 6.5%).

During the same period, the number of corporations reporting corporate tax credits has steadily increased over the past five years, with 104,299 SMEs and 12,176 general corporations, representing increases of 27.1% and 6.6% respectively compared to the previous year. Excluding foreign tax credits, the amount of tax credits was 2.3305 trillion won for SMEs and 2.1824 trillion won for general corporations.

The amount of research and development (R&D) tax credits claimed by corporations filing corporate tax was 1.3017 trillion won for SMEs and 1.3413 trillion won for general corporations, increasing by 2.9% and 38.9% respectively compared to the previous year. The R&D tax credit includes both general R&D tax credits and new growth engine & core technology R&D tax credits. Among these, the new growth engine & core technology R&D tax credit amounted to 20.7 billion won for SMEs and 425 billion won for general corporations.

For the 2020 fiscal year, the number of VAT-exempt businesses was 8.14 million, with total revenue of 311.6305 trillion won, increasing by 4.4% and 2.7% respectively compared to the previous year. Revenue per business location by industry was 880 million won for healthcare and 69 million won for educational services, showing increases of 0.7% and decreases of 11.5% respectively compared to the previous year.

This national tax statistics release was changed from publishing the National Tax Statistical Yearbook every December and releasing tax statistics twice before the yearbook publication to a more timely information provision system by switching to ad hoc releases starting this year.

This third ad hoc release follows the first ad hoc release in April (60 items) and the second in June (143 items), disclosing a total of 99 national tax statistics items, including eight new statistics in the collection field.

The total number of statistical items released in the first to third ad hoc releases is 302, an increase of 207 items (217.9%) compared to the first early release in July last year (95 items), accounting for 55.3% of all national tax statistics (546 items as of the end of September). Additionally, card news explaining corporate taxpayer tax credits and reductions and the liquor tax field will be produced and posted on the National Tax Statistics Portal (TASIS) for easier understanding.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.