SEJONG -- South Korea collected 36.6 trillion won ($32.7 billion) in taxes in September, up 3.6 trillion won from a year earlier, the finance ministry said Tuesday.

Income tax revenue amounted to 6.7 trillion won in September, up 4.2 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Dues collected from companies, on the other hand, reached 8.3 trillion won in the month, down 1.2 trillion won from a year earlier due to the lackluster earnings of local firms.

Taxes collected from customs decreased 100 billion won over the period to 600 billion won due to the falling amount of imports.

South Korea's total expenditures in September reached 46.1 trillion won, up 9 trillion won from a year earlier.

In the first nine months of this year, the government's total revenue fell by 5.1 trillion won to 354 trillion won.

The government's total expenditure, however, rose by 48.8 trillion won to 434 trillion won in the nine-month period.

So far this year, South Korea has implemented four extra budgets worth 66 trillion won to cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. It marked the first time in 59 years for the South Korean government to allocate four extra budgets in a single fiscal year.

The four extra budgets are expected to take the nation's debt-to-GDP ratio to 43.9 percent this year, compared with just below 40 percent before the pandemic. (Yonhap)