공익법인 세제의 문제점과 개편방향

There have been active discussions about the reform of taxation system for public-service corporations in recent years. The public-service corporation system has both a positive aspect of providing public-service and a negative one of avoiding taxes including inheritance taxes or having control over companies through public-service corporations. Reform directions are proposed for both the sides, and it is not easy to find a point of contact between them. South Korea has a good taxation system for public-service corporations, but some of its provisions do not fit the reality including the ones about stock donation, property management income, utilization of property for public good, and accounting transparency. Those discussions have led to the following conclusions： First, it is needed to set a direction by asking "How does a public-service corporation perform public interest activities with the contributed stocks?" rather than putting limits on the ratio of stock contribution itself. The recent reform direction thus seems right as it increases the ratio of stock contribution. Secondly, it has become difficult to run a public-service corporation with management income while keeping the principal due to situational changes including the lasting era of low interest rates, which means the concerned legislations and taxation systems should be revised to allow public-service corporations to use parts of their fundamental property for their purpose businesses or recognize restructuring such as the merger of public-service corporations. Finally, the accounting transparency of public-service corporations should be improved by reinforcing external audits on them, putting stricter restrictions on the heads that have violated the rules, and offering a set of standard accounting criteria. Recent years have witnessed the desirable revision of some legislations by reflecting those proposals, but it is still needed to review additionally the size and opening scope to the public of public-service corporations and the unification of reporting and public announcement documents.