클라우드 컴퓨팅(Cloud Computing)과국제조세 문제

This paper explores tax consideration of cloud computing transactions which is a new tax conundrum by changing the IT infrastructure and Business Environment in the Digital Economy. A cloud computing service has made significant challenges in the international taxation area：two serious questions are the characterisation of cloud computing transaction and related income(royalties or business income), and a tax issue with a permanent establishment. This paper examines these issues and a new approach to “for the use of, or the right to use, industrial, commercial or scientific equipment” on the UN Model Double Taxation Convention between developed and developing countries. This paper consists of the 3 crucial parts roughly. The First part explores major features of cloud computing. The cloud computing service would be classified from 3 types, SaaS(Software as a Service), PaaS(Platform as a Service), IaaS(Infrastructure as a Service). It examines IT natures of three models individually, and gets these factors connected to the tax system. The Second part is about the analysis on international tax issues, such as characterisation of related income in the context of tax treaties and the category extension of a permanent establishment in other countries. Specially this part examines the Korean Supreme Court 2005DU16475 case, which it made a decision whether a direct income from a satellite-use transaction be included in royalties. The final parts makes a new tax approach to the meaning of “for the use of, or the right to use, industrial, commercial or scientific equipment”. These terms were made in the past, but a new interpreting approach about these terms is in accord with the context of taxing the clouds.