2009년도 법인세법 및 소득세법 판례 회고

In this article, I review eight of the Supreme Court(hereinafter “the Court”) Cases of 2009 involving the Personal Income Tax or Corporate Income Tax issues. I believe the foregoing cases are more open to debates or counterargu- ments than other cases. One of the cases is 2008du7779, which involves the illegal expense issue. In that case, the Court has confirmed its existing position that illegal expenses could be treated as an element decreasing taxable income but for such a special situation as would be considered as conflicting against social order. In case 2006du19037, the Court broadly interpreted the meaning of ‘distribution of profit’ in the Unfair Transaction and Account, which I believe conflicts with the Court’s established position that the types of the Unfair Transaction and Account listed in the statute are restrictive and do not allow an analogical interpretation. In case 2006du7904, the Court suggested a criterion to be applied in deciding on whom the withholding tax would be imposed when a surety pays a foreign creditor independent of his principal. In case 2007du3107, the Court held that both the acquisition tax and the registration tax should be included in purchase expenses in estimating taxable income. I do not believe, however, that such outcome is a valid statutory interpretation. Case 2008du11310 has a value as a precedent. I hope that more opinions, ideas, and arguments on the eight cases would be provided by many tax specialists in the future, and that the questions and concerns that I raise would be resolved. I also hope that many decisions involving personal income tax or corporate income tax issues would be made in the Court in the year of 2010, which would contribute to the development of the personal income tax and corporate income tax laws.