국외사업자의 전자적 용역 공급과 부가가치세 - 비교법적 검토 -

Abstract

Even if not present in the same area, we are able to receive goods or services at any time, regardless of location. Thus, VAT has become an international issue. And the issue of VAT on cross-border electronic services can affect the revenues of countries. In addition, more importantly, equitable taxation of domestic operators and foreign operators can be hindered. To solve this problem, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has been working to issue the consumption tax guidelines related to international trade. The OECD Guidelines recommend adopting the reverse charge mechanism for B2B transactions to ensure tax neutrality of domestic and foreign operators. The reverse charge mechanism is that consumption is determined by the place of business of the recipient of services, and the purchaser should report VAT on the supply of such services. On the other hand, as for B2C transactions, the location of consumption is typically reported as a place of residence of the consumer, and the OECD Guidelines recommend that foreign providers of electronic services register with the tax authorities of the country of consumption. Korea also approved a tax law amendment in 2014 and has implemented Mini One Stop Shop for foreign operators from July 2015. This is to enhance equitable taxation between domestic operators and foreign operators. Looking specifically, where foreign operators provide electronic services such as games, sound, video files, electronic documents or software to domestic consumers, such foreign operators are required to apply for a simplified VAT registration to report and pay VAT in Korea. But as we are still in early stages, we face many legal issues. So I would like to point out a few outstanding issues. The concept of electronic services defined in the Korean VAT Act seems to have been approached from a regulatory point of view concerning tax equity between domestic and foreign operators based on the OECD B2C Guidelines (draft). Next, we have introduced Mini One Stop Shop system in order to collect VAT from foreign operators. But this system is based on a premise that foreign operators should be registered in Korea. If foreign operators do not register, VAT cannot be imposed on them. This is not different from before. And in order to effectively collect VAT for electronic services, international cooperation is necessary, because information can be exchanged between countries and VAT can be collected by the tax authorities of each country. Finally, there is a need to review the special scheme for foreign providers of electronic services after the OECD B2C Guidelines are published in November 2015. E-commerce conducted over the Internet (including mobile e-commerce) will be further developed. It is desirable to establish common standards that countries can impose VAT on each other for electronic services through international cooperation. This research is also deemed necessary.