배당소득 요건의 정립에 따른 배당소득 과세제도 개선방안

“The income which has characteristic of profit-distribution", the general criteria of income classification of dividend income of Individual Income Tax Act doesn't include the requirement of payer and recipient of income. Therefore, the scope of that criteria is too broad. As a result, there are many disparate incomes among dividend incomes of Individual Income Tax Act and there are various ways of taxation for each dividend income, which makes income classification meaningless. In addition, a lot of dividend incomes of Individual Income Tax Act don't satisfy the international concept of dividend income. Accordingly, this thesis establishes the definition and elements of dividend income which will function as criteria of income classification related to dividend income by analyzing tax law of US, Japan and OECD Model Tax Convention comparatively. The criteria of income classification for dividend income has been set up in direction which conforms to the concept of dividend income of the international tax law as far as possible. In general, the dividend income for the purpose of tax law can be defined the profit of business which is transferred to the shareholders(owners) of business by the position of shareholder(owners) as such. From this definition, the four elements of dividend income come out, which are ① payer requirement ② recipient requirement ③ source of distribution requirement ④ distribution requirement. The three main proposals for revision of Individual Income Tax Act on taxation of dividend income can be presented with this definition and elements of dividend income. First, profits from derivatives-linked securities and the compensation of dividends which a lender receives from a borrower in the stock lending transaction should be removed from the scope of dividend income and be classified into other incomes. These two incomes don't satisfy recipient requirement and source of distribution requirement of dividend income. Second, stock dividend and constructive dividend for bonus share by capital incorporation of an earned surplus should be removed from dividend income and furthermore eventually removed from an object of taxation. Stock dividend and constructive dividend for bonus share by capital incorporation of an earned surplus don't satisfy distribution requirement of dividend income. Furthermore, these incomes are just unrealized profits which are not taxed but deferred until realization in principle in income taxation system. Third, We need to introduce the taxation of constructive dividend for the distribution of profits by commercial law if reduced capital reserve is included in the source of distribution of profits. The dividend by reduction of capital reserve is just return of capital, so it is not included in dividend income. Therefore, without this kind of constructive dividend, we can't prevent deferral of taxation by tax payer's arbitrary election.