국세기본법에 따른 실체법․절차법 체계하에서 정확한 담세력에 따른 과세를 어디까지 추구할 수 있는가? (A Giant Leap for Fairer Tax or Blind Compromise with Public Opinion?)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국세법학회
· 수록지 정보 : 조세법연구 / 22권 / 3호 / 9 ~ 63페이지
· 저자명 : 윤지현

초록

이 글에서는 2000년대에 선고된 대법원 판결들 중 국세기본법 또는 세법 ‘총론’에 해당하는 쟁점을 포함하고 있는 것으로서 이론적․실무적인 중요성이 있다고 생각하는 9개를 골라서 논의의 대상으로 삼는다. 각 판결의 배경과 주요 판시사항을 살펴보고 그 의의를 평가하는데, 각각을 따로 고찰하기보다는 이들 판결들로부터 일정한 방향성을 찾아보려고 시도하였다. 특히 이러한 기본적인 실체적․절차적 사항들과 관련하여, 정확한 담세력에 따른 과세라는 가치와, 그 밖에 또 다른 가치를 추구하는 실체법․절차법적 제약 사이에서 결단을 내려야 할 때, 대법원이 많은 경우 정확한 담세력에 따른 과세를 우선시키고 있음을 확인하고자 하였다. 하지만 모든 판결에서 그러한 방향성이 일관되는 것은 아닌데, 그러한 경우라면 정확한 담세력에 따른 과세라는 가치를 희생시키면서 그보다 더 중시한 가치가 어떤 것인지, 그리고 실제로 그와 같이 중요하게 여길 만한 필요가 있는 것인지 여부를 분명히 따져 본 다음에 그러한 결과에 이르러야 함을 강조하였다.

영어초록

This article discusses 9 selected decisions rendered by the Supreme Court of Korea, all of which deal issues that are, broadly speaking, associated with the Korean Basic Framework Act on National Taxes to a certain extent. This article has selected these 9 decisions, all of which were rendered after the turn of the century, taking into account their respective theoretical or practical importance in tax law.
It is noted that, in each of those 9 decisions, the Supreme Court of Korea was confronted with a choice as to whether it should pursue “accurate taxation,” i.e. taxation based on exact amount of income or other tax base, or respect certain legal doctrines that collides with the idea of “accurate taxation” in search of other legal values in tax procedures or tax law. For example, in one of the foregoing 9 cases, the taxpayer devised an artificial arrangement to minimize its local tax burden, which was subsequently challenged by the tax authorities, and the Supreme Court had to decide whether to disregard the foregoing arrangement for “accurate taxation,” or respect the legal form to protect such values as legal certainty and taxpayer’s predictability. In another case where the taxpayer had received bribes and been taxed thereon, but suffered forfeit thereof as a result of the criminal proceeding, it was disputed whether the taxpayer was entitled to a refund of the tax paid. The idea of “accurate taxation” would arguably dictate such a refund be permitted while the value of legal certainty under tax procedures would bar the taxpayer from revisiting the issue of his tax liability that had already been duly established.
It is submitted in this article that the Supreme Court has more often than not upheld the idea of “accurate taxation” over other legal values of tax procedures or tax law. It is also noted that the Supreme Court, albeit in much fewer cases, did hold that the pursuit of “accurate taxation” should be compromised in respect of other legal values. Nevertheless, this article also suggests, in this regard, that such decisions should be made through more principled reasoning on which legal values should be upheld to block the idea of “accurate taxation,” and when.

참고자료

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