2007년도 헌법재판소 결정례회고

During 2007 year session, 9 articles in tax law area has reviewed by the Constitutional Court. 4 Each from Framework Act on National taxes, Inheritance tax and gift tax Act, Local tax Act and Income tax Act, 5 articles have been from Coporate tax Act. Each article had different constitutional issue. But there have been 3 cases about same issue that sur-charge should be given to Coporate in addition to normal tax payment, if it fails to submit information and material for tax impositions to tax office.(They should submit information and material for tax payment before impositions) Among 9 articles, 1 article has been declared unconstitutional. Local tax Act, Article §22 (2) states that when properties of a juristic person (excluding those listed on the Korea Stock Exchange) are insufficient to be appropriated for the impositions of the local government which are levied on or to be paid by the relevant juristic person, a person who is in de facto control of the corporation's management regardless of his position title shall assume the secondary liability to pay the deficient amount as of the tax base date or the date when the liability for tax payment is constituted. The Constitutional Court declared unconstitu- tional the investor's secondary liability for tax payment system because the statute deprived the constitutionally protected equal protection. Recently the Constitutional Court has used strict scrutiny standard for reviewing the whole area of tax law. But it can be used not only strict scrutiny but also intermediate scrutiny or reasonable test in tax area. I hope that standard of scrutiny of tax law area will be categorized in the near future.