SEOUL, August 31 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics and SK hynix paid a combined 11.2 trillion won ($8 billion) in corporate taxes in the first half of 2026, nearly triple the amount a year earlier, company filings showed.
Samsung paid 3.99 trillion won in corporate taxes during the January-June period, up from 1.12 trillion won a year earlier, according to the company's separate financial statements filed with the Financial Supervisory Service.
SK hynix paid 7.22 trillion won, more than double the 3.07 trillion won paid during the same period last year.
Together, the two chipmakers paid 11.21 trillion won, up 167.5 percent from 4.19 trillion won a year earlier. The figure was the second-highest first-half total on record, behind 12.66 trillion won in 2019 during the previous memory-chip boom.
The surge is particularly notable because much of the tax paid in the first half reflects earnings generated before the full impact of this year's extraordinary semiconductor rally.
Korean companies with fiscal years ending in December generally settle corporate taxes on the previous year's earnings in March, while making interim payments in August. Large corporate groups can calculate the August payment based on provisional first-half results.
That means the sharp earnings expansion recorded by Samsung and SK hynix this year could translate into substantially larger tax payments later this year and next.
Samsung reported a record 146.73 trillion won in operating profit in the first half, compared with 11.36 trillion won a year earlier, according to its consolidated financial statements.
SK hynix's first-half operating profit surged to 98.15 trillion won from 16.65 trillion won a year earlier, driven by booming demand for high-bandwidth memory and other AI-related memory products.
The two companies generated a combined 244.88 trillion won in operating profit in just six months, highlighting the scale of the earnings windfall created by the global artificial intelligence investment boom.
Their previous combined annual corporate tax payment record was 15.64 trillion won in 2019. With first-half payments already exceeding 11 trillion won and earnings accelerating sharply, their tax contributions are widely expected to set a new record.
Some estimates have suggested the companies' eventual tax burden could approach 100 trillion won if their combined standalone operating profit reaches 500 trillion to 600 trillion won and a simple effective tax rate of around 20 percent is applied.
Such estimates, however, remain highly preliminary. Actual tax payments could be substantially lower after deductions and tax credits for research and development and domestic facility investment are taken into account.
AJP Takeaways:
Samsung and SK hynix paid a combined 11.21 trillion won in corporate taxes in H1, up 167.5 percent from a year earlier.
Samsung's payment jumped to 3.99 trillion won, while SK hynix paid a record 7.22 trillion won on a standalone basis.
The bigger fiscal impact may still be ahead as the companies' combined H1 operating profit surged to nearly 245 trillion won.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
