In this article, we analyze the current Korean taxation scheme and regulations on e-Commerce transactions from income tax and value added tax (VAT) aspects and develop suggestions on how to modify or change income tax laws and VAT laws in coping with ...
In this article, we analyze the current Korean taxation scheme and regulations on e-Commerce transactions from income tax and value added tax (VAT) aspects and develop suggestions on how to modify or change income tax laws and VAT laws in coping with increasing e-Commerce transactions.
Under the current Local Tax Law, when a corporation has business places in two or more cities/counties, the resident tax on income shall be allocated to each local government having jurisdiction over each business place based on the two allocation key; number of employees and size of office spaces. However, in order to allocate resident taxes to each local government properly in corresponding to contribution of each local government for generating profits of the Company, it is recommended to consider the following three factors at least for allocating resident taxes on income; sales amount in the local government area, amount of salary and wages for employees working in the area and value of assets used in the area. And also, the current Resident Tax Law has no clear regulations on allocation of resident taxes on income for the case where an individual (not a corporation) does businesses with business places over two or more cities/counties. The regulations for allocation of resident taxes on income in case of individual entrepreneurs having business places over two or more cities/countries will be needed to be in place in the said law.
In regards to cross-boarder e-Commerce transactions, it is recommended to modify, establish or revise the clauses on definition of domestic source income in the Corporate Income Tax Laws and Individual Income Tax Laws in the following area.
(1) Business income: ① Inclusion and clarification of range and definition of domestic source income on IT business, communication and telecom business, services rendered through electronic equipments such as internet, ② Classification of income and definition of domestic source income on digital products and services provided through electronic devices, ③ Tax treatments method on charging management fees or allocating head office expenses to overseas affiliated entities by a regional headquarter of a multinational company located in Korea, ④ Modification of the definition of the key factors constituting a permanent establishment, particularly regarding to transactions accompanying inventories, ⑤ Complementing and clarifying the method on how to calculate domestic source income in case that relevant activities for IT business, telecommunication business, are performed over two or more countries.
(2) Personal Service income: ① Excluding the fees for personal services performed overseas and used in Korea from Korean source income, ② Modification and addition of detailed scopes and kinds of personal services in order to keep pace with changes in environments of increasing e-commerce transactions, ③ Establishing detailed guidelines on how to classify incomes between royalties income, personal service income and business income, ④ Research on propriety of withholding rate on personal service income which will be applied when the personal service income falls into the category of domestic source income but the recipient has no permanent establishment in Korea, ⑤ Clarification on how to calculate the tax base for personal service incomes which should be reported through filing income tax returns.
(3) Royalty income: ① Reclassification of compensation for transferring industrial, commercial and scientific equipments from royalty income to business income, ② Regulation on how to classify compensation for digital products and services, ③ Research on propriety of withholding rate on royalty income, ④ Clarification on deductible expenses incurred by the head office in determining tax base for royalty income in case of being attributable to a permanent establishment in Korea.
In regards to definition of a permanent establishment, modification and redefinition of the factors constituting a permanent establishment in corresponding to e-commerce environment should be made in revision of the tax laws.
This thesis also studies on consumption tax issues raised in the environment of e-Commerce transactions. The Korean VAT Laws should be updated for e-Commerce transactions in the following areas: ① Taxation right for VAT on services should be determined based on place of consumption instead of place of supply, ② When the VAT law is revised to impose VAT on importation of services, special concern should be given to developing schemes and procedures for taxation on B2C transactions, ③ Classification of digital products and services between VAT-exempted transactions and VAT leviable transactions should be established clearly and concretely.