South Korea's tax agency said Thursday that it aims to collect 14.7 trillion won ($13.8 billion) more in taxes this year than last year amid the government's ongoing efforts to expand its revenue base.

In a plan submitted to lawmakers, the National Tax Service set its goal at a total of 204.9 trillion won worth of national taxes including income, corporate and value-added taxes this year.

This is 7.7 percent, or 14.7 trillion won, more than the 190.2 trillion won the NTS brought in last year, the agency said.

To expand its revenue base, the agency said that it will focus its tax-collecting capacity on large business entities, wealthy people and high-income earners but in a "careful" way that will not cause social unrest or hurt economic activities.

The move comes as the government struggles to expand its revenue base to meet growing fiscal demand while prolonged low economic growth makes tax collection difficult.

Last year, the government's gross revenue fell about 11 trillion won short of expectations, mostly due to a sharp fall in tax collection. (Yonhap News)