Tax Increase Rate
Korea’s per-capita tax increased by 25 percent in five years to show the fourth-highest rate of increase among OECD member countries.
According to the OECD, the per-capita tax of Korea added up to US$6,314 as of the end of 2013, sixth from the bottom among the 29 OECD member countries where statistics were available. The 29 countries’ average was US$15,634. The amount reached US$48,043 in Luxembourg, followed by Norway, Denmark, and Sweden.
The lowest amount was recorded by Turkey (US$3,167) and Chile, Hungary, Slovakia, and Estonia followed it. The sums were obtained by dividing the total tax revenues including social security contributions by the population, and are different from the average taxes actually paid in their respective countries.
Korea’s per-capita tax increased 25.0 percent from US$5,051 between 2008 and 2013. Only Chile (39.5 percent), New Zealand (31.8 percent), and Turkey (26.9 percent) showed a rate of increase higher than that of Korea. The amount dropped much for Greece (-27.1 percent), Ireland (-16.5 percent), Hungary (-15.3 percent), Slovenia (-15.2 percent), and Spain (-14.7 percent).
The tax revenue-to-GDP ratio was 24.3 percent in Korea, third from the bottom, while the OECD average was 34.1 percent. The ratios were 19.6 percent and 21.4 percent for Mexico and Chile, respectively.