Half of businesses exempted from corporate tax due to business slump in 2015 : data SEOUL , April 5 ( Yonhap ) -- Nearly half of South Korea ' s companies were exempted from corporate tax in 2015 , government data showed Wednesday , as many experienced a deficit due to the prolonged economic slump . About 47 . 1 percent , or 280 , 000 , out of the total 590 , 000 registered corporations were exempt from corporate taxes in 2015 , according to the statistics provided by the National Tax Service . The comparable figures were 46 . 2 percent in 2011 , 46 . 5 percent in 2012 , 47 . 1 percent in 2013 and 47 . 3 percent in 2014 . " They did not pay corporate taxes as they were in the red due to a slump in business , " an NTS official said . About 46 . 8 percent , or 8 . 1 million , out of the country ' s total 17 . 3 million salaried workers also were exempt from earned income tax due to a lack of taxable income in 2015 . The figures rose sharply to 48 . 1 percent in 2014 from 32 . 4 percent in 2013 . The dramatic surge was attributed to a tax law revision which allowed many low - income earners to be eligible for tax exemption rather than paying low rate taxes . The NTS data also showed the top 1 percent of corporations paid 75 . 9 percent of the total corporate tax while the top 10 percent paid 91 . 7 percent in 2015 . In terms of earned income tax , the upper 1 percent paid 32 . 6 percent of the total earned income tax and the upper 10 percent paid 75 . 9 percent in 2015 . In consolidated income tax , the upper 1 percent paid 47 . 4 percent of the total and the upper 10 percent paid 85 . 7 percent of the total in 2015 . hdh @ yna . co . kr ( END )