Samsung Electronics' global tax exceeds last year

Samsung Electronics recorded the best performance in history last year due to semiconductor super cycle and reportedly paid tax of more than 15 trillion won to governments around the world.

According to Samsung Electronics’ Sustainability Report, it paid 15.1 trillion won last year to governments around the world including corporate tax of 14 trillion won. This is 70.0 percent up from 8.9 trillion won in 2016, and double the amount of 2015 (7.8 trillion won).

It is notable that the tax paid to the Korean government was as much as 81 percent of the total amount, which is attributable to the soaring sales of Samsung’s premium chip that are mostly produced in Korea.

The ratio of domestic tax decreased to 51 percent in 2015 from 53 percent in 2014, but it rebounded to 67 percent in 2016, recording all-time high last year. It paid 10 percent to other Asian countries including China, 8 percent each to Europe and the Americas and 1 percent to other regions. The South Korean tech giant also paid corporate tax of 7.73 trillion won to the Korean government, which is 55 percent of the total 14 trillion won.

Almost 90 percent of its revenue was raked in from overseas. It gained the highest revenue in the Americas (81 trillion won, 34 percent), followed by Europe (44.4 trillion won, 19 percent) and China (38.3 trillion won, 16 percent). Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics’ revenue earned in Korea was 31.6 trillion won, which was around 13 percent of the total.


Ji-Hyun Kim jhk85@donga.com