Corporate Card Usage in Entertainment Establishments Sees 10% Increase

The scale of corporate cards used in entertainment establishments last year reached 624.4 billion won, a 10% increase from the previous year.

According to data submitted by the National Tax Service, the amount used by entertainment establishments using corporate cards last year was tallied at KRW 624.4 billion, an increase of KRW 60.6 billion from the previous year (KRW 563.8 billion).

By entertainment establishment, room salon usage was the highest at 340.7 billion won, followed by pubs (131.3 billion won) and restaurants (80.2 billion won). Additionally, a significant amount of corporate cards were used in theater-style restaurants (KRW 54.4 billion) and nightclubs (KRW 17.8 billion).

Historically, the amount of corporate credit card usage in entertainment establishments exceeded 1 trillion won in the early 2010s, but gradually decreased to 860.9 billion won in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic further reduced usage to 212 billion won in 2021, but it has recently been rapidly increasing again.

The business expenses (preliminary entertainment expenses) of corporations that reported corporate taxes last year amounted to KRW 15.3246 trillion. Operating expenses have also seen a significant increase, rising by about 30% in just three years to KRW 12.6995 trillion in 2022.