Last Year, Alcohol Shipment Volume Increased for the First Time in 8 Years... "Impact of Gradual Recovery from COVID-19"

National Tax Statistics
Alcohol Shipment Volume 3.1 Million kL in 2021 → 3.274 Million kL in 2022
Rising Real Estate Prices Increase 'Inheritance Tax' Payers

Last year, the shipment volume of alcoholic beverages such as soju and beer turned to an upward trend for the first time in eight years since 2014. This is interpreted as a result of increased consumption following the gradual recovery from COVID-19.

On the 29th, the National Tax Service released the "2023 2nd Quarter National Tax Statistics" containing this information.

According to the report, the shipment volume of alcoholic beverages in 2022 was 3.274 million kiloliters, an increase of 174,000 kiloliters (5.6%) compared to 3.1 million kiloliters in 2021. The shipment volume had decreased for seven consecutive years from 2014 (3.808 million kiloliters) to 2021. In particular, due to strict social distancing measures implemented during the spread of COVID-19, the shipment volume decreased by 4.8% in 2020 and 3.6% in 2021 compared to the previous years, but it turned to an increase in 2022.

By type of alcoholic beverage, beer accounted for 1.698 million kiloliters last year, making up 51.9% of the total. This was followed by diluted soju at 862,000 kiloliters (26.3%) and takju (unfiltered rice wine) at 343,000 kiloliters (10.5%).

By region, shipment volumes were highest in Gyeonggi, Chungbuk, and Jeonbuk provinces. The growth rates compared to five years ago were highest in Gwangju, Gangwon, and Gyeongnam provinces. The shipment volume of regional specialty liquors was 28,000 kiloliters, increasing annually, while the shipment volume of folk liquors was 1,500 kiloliters, showing a decreasing trend each year.

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Sharp Increase in Inheritance Tax Subjects Due to Rising Real Estate Prices

The number of inheritance tax payers has significantly increased due to rising real estate prices and other factors. Last year, the number of inheritance tax payers (deceased persons) was 19,506, up 30.5% (4,555 persons) from 14,951 in 2021. Compared to 2018, the number of inheritance tax payers (8,449) increased by 11,057 (130.9%), and the total value of inherited assets surged by 35.9 trillion KRW (174.3%).

Looking at the status of taxpayers by scale of total inherited assets in 2022, the largest group of taxpayers was in the range of "over 1 billion KRW to 2 billion KRW," with 8,510 taxpayers (43.6%) bearing inheritance tax payments of 700 billion KRW (about 5%). The group with the largest inheritance tax payment was in the range exceeding 50 billion KRW, where 38 taxpayers (0.2%) paid 8 trillion KRW (about 58%). The total inherited asset value summed to 17.6 trillion KRW, with an average inherited asset value per person of 463.2 billion KRW. The group with the most taxpayers in the lower range was "over 100 million KRW to 300 million KRW," with 4,401 taxpayers (22.6%) paying 100 billion KRW in taxes.

By asset type, inherited assets consisted of real estate (buildings 20.7 trillion KRW, land 8.8 trillion KRW) totaling 29.5 trillion KRW, and stocks and other securities at 17.3 trillion KRW, accounting for 83.0% of the total inherited asset value.

Due to the recent downturn in the real estate market, the number of gift tax cases has decreased. In 2022, the number of gift tax filings was 216,000, down 48,000 cases (18.2%) from 264,000 in 2021. The value of gifted assets also decreased by 12.8 trillion KRW (25.3%) to 37.7 trillion KRW compared to 50.5 trillion KRW in 2021.

Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax: Number of Taxpayers Increased but Total Tax Amount Decreased

Last year, the number of Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax (종합부동산세, Jongsang Budongsanse) taxpayers (finalized taxpayers) was 1.283 million, an increase of 266,000 (26.2%) from 1.017 million in 2021. However, the finalized tax amount decreased by 600 billion KRW (8.2%) to 6.7 trillion KRW compared to 7.3 trillion KRW in 2021, due to the reduction of the fair market value ratio for housing (from 100% to 60%).

Compared to five years ago in 2018, when the finalized tax status was 464,000 taxpayers and 1.9 trillion KRW in tax, the number of taxpayers increased by 819,000 (176.5%) and the finalized tax amount increased by 4.8 trillion KRW (252.6%). By region, the finalized tax amount increased most in Sejong City (841.6%), Gwangju (672.7%), and Jeonbuk Province (552.6%). In Seoul, the districts with the highest increase rates were Gangdong-gu (712.1%), Nowon-gu (705.8%), and Guro-gu (658.0%).

In 2022, the number of taxpayers owning only one house subject to the housing portion of the Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax was 578,000, an increase of 151,000 (35.4%) from 427,000 in 2021. However, the finalized tax amount was 717.6 billion KRW, a decrease of 77.1 billion KRW (9.7%) from 794.7 billion KRW the previous year.

(Photo) [Image source=Yonhap News]

367,000 Corporations Reported Losses Last Year... 110,000 More Than Five Years Ago

Last year, 982,000 corporations filed corporate tax returns, an 8.4% increase from the previous year. Among them, 615,000 corporations reported profits, and 367,000 corporations (37.4%) reported losses. Compared to 2018, profit-reporting corporations increased by 132,000 (27.3%), while loss-reporting corporations increased by 110,000 (42.8%), showing a higher growth rate for loss-reporting corporations.

Comparing total corporate tax burdens by industry type with five years ago (2018), the highest growth rates were in healthcare (153.8%), food and lodging (134.8%), and service industries (102.0%).

Due to economic recovery following the lifting of COVID-19 social distancing measures, the number of value-added tax (VAT) filings totaled 7.87 million, an increase of 410,000 (5.5%) from 7.46 million the previous year. Among these, corporate businesses accounted for 1.08 million filings (13.7%), and individual businesses accounted for 6.79 million filings (86.3%).

The top professional occupations by average annual sales amount were certified public accountants (CPAs) for corporations and patent attorneys for individuals. Last year, the annual average sales amount for VAT filings showed that corporate businesses were led by CPAs (90.9 trillion KRW), patent attorneys (3.02 billion KRW), and lawyers (22.7 trillion KRW). For individual businesses, patent attorneys (5.6 trillion KRW), lawyers (4.6 trillion KRW), and CPAs (440 million KRW) ranked highest.

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