South Korea posted an on-year decline in tax revenue for the first time this year in October due in part to a temporary tax waiver for small businesses financially burdened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on Thursday, tax revenue during the first ten months of the year stood at 307-point-four trillion won, up 53-point-seven trillion won on-year.

Revenue from income taxes gained 20-point-eight trillion won on-year to 96-point-three trillion won during the cited period while corporate tax also increased 14-point-four trillion won, on the back of a boom in asset markets buoyed by the economic recovery.

However, revenues in October fell six-point-two trillion won from a year earlier to 32-point-nine trillion won. 

The statistics agency said the decline reflects an extension of deadlines for small businesses and small- and mid-sized enterprises to pay value-added taxes or corporate taxes by three months as part of efforts to cushion the protracted pandemic’s impact on them.

The nation's debt as of October stood at 939-point-six trillion won.