Tax revenue up 19% in May on higher income, bullish stock market

South Korea's tax revenue shot up nearly 19 percent in May from a year earlier due to higher incomes and the recent bullish run in the stock market, data showed Tuesday.

The government collected 35.8 trillion won ($23.2 billion) in taxes last month, compared with 30.1 trillion won posted a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Finance and Economy.

The finance ministry attributed the sharp increase to higher income tax collections, which totaled 22 trillion won in May, up 16.5 percent from a ...