해외 신용결제 네트워크 서비스 관련 과세상 쟁점 고찰

Abstract

This paper generally explores controversial cases regarding the Global Credit Card Payment Network Service (the Seoul High Court 2017Nu38104 Decision and three other court decisions), and the true nature of the Global Credit Card Payment Network Service (GCCPNS) in Taxation. Chapter 2 examines four controversial tax cases from the perspective of international taxation, and VAT. First of all, it elaborates on the nature of GCCPNS through considering global credit card networks driven by foreign credit card companies. Secondly, it reviews four high court decisions with similar facts and circumstances. On the common view of these cases, it is possible to divide them into two categories, depending on whether or not an owned network constructed and operated by a foreign card company is used. Fees based on domestic transactions such as Issuer Assessment or Domestic Assessment do not necessarily use GCCPNS, but fees based on cross-border transactions such as Daily Assessment Incoming or Cross-border Volume fees necessarily utilize the owned network created from GCCPNS. Depending on the features of the transactions, the courts chose their respective approaches to solve the tax issues about domestic sourced royalties, and the place of supply for VAT purposes, in these transactions. Chapter 3 firstly suggests the true nature of GCCPNS provided by foreign credit card companies. First of all, considering court cases (namely, CIBC Case(2021FCA10), Sierra Club Case(86 F.3d 1256), and others) grounded in similar circumstances, it is argued in this Chapter that GCCPNS is a single compound transaction comprising several transactions (transaction processing, licensing of a brand, brand management and promotion, payment network management) but only artificially divisible, because foreign credit card companies built the system of GCCPNS for business purposes, with specific features for creating and operating the original credit payment network. On the logical grounds of GCCPNS, enjoying the specific value of the network is the principal service being provided, and other sub-transactions are incidental. From this perspective, income paid from local card issuers in the case of utilizing GCCPNS (Issuer Assessment, or Domestic Assessment treated) is classified as domestic sourced royalties. Expanding this approach in order to arrive at a decision as to the correct VAT treatment, it is necessary to consider the legal position to solve the VAT place of supply issues for the GCCPNS. Considering the place where ‘Significant and Fundamental’ activities are carried out by taxpayers, the Supreme Court 2009Du19229 Decision, which was based on similar circumstances, took the approach of looking at where a taxpayer performs his original value-created services through a network which has been constructed and operated. In this Supreme Court decision, transactions related to Daily Assessment Incoming or Cross-border Volume fees will be classified as outbound transactions for VAT purposes.