Dues collected by companies also increased 1.9 trillion won on-year to reach 10.1 trillion won in the one-month period, the ministry said.

Value-added tax revenue reached 2.1 trillion won in September, also up 0.5 trillion won over the cited period, the ministry said.

In the first nine months of the year, state tax earnings reached 233.7 trillion won, up 26.6 trillion won from a year earlier.

South Korea posted a budget surplus for the third year in a row in fiscal 2017 as its tax revenue rose sharply on increased corporate and value added taxes.

The gross revenue that the government brought in last year came to 359.5 trillion won, while expenditures totaled 342.9 trillion won.

Fiscal spending was tallied at 232 trillion won in the January-September period, 10.3 trillion won more than previously forecast, the data showed.