마일리지 관련 부가가치세 및 소득세 과세에 관한 소고

As of the end of December 2019, the amount of mileage granted in Korea is estimated to be at least 20 trillion won in businesses such as wholesale/retail, department stores, petrochemical, and aviation. However, the possibility of tax base erosion in relation to the operation of this mileage system can be largely shown in three ways. First, if an individual who is a non-business person with very high loyalty is granted an excessive amount of mileage, it can be regarded as having a substantial amount of income equivalent to the monetary value, but the amount of mileage accrued is not taxable under the current tax law. Second, for the portion of payment for mileage other than self-earned, the amount reimbursed from a person other than the person receiving the services is included in the VAT tax base. However, in principle, the free supply of services can be excluded from the taxation of VAT at the time of supply. Third, the above tax base erosion problem can be further increased by individual companies granting excessive mileage to so-called “loyal customers” as a marketing management strategy, or by maintaining a long period of validity and expiration of the granted mileage. In this study, as indicated under the precedents of Supreme Court and 「Value Added Tax Act」 amended over Feb. 2017 and Jan. 2018, the improvement plan for the problem of the VAT and Income Tax system related to accumulating and using mileage are as follows. First, in the case of payment using self-earned mileage, it is currently excluded from the VAT tax base as it is considered as an price discount. On average, only within the range of 1% of sales during the current or previous taxable period(differentiated by business type), it is regarded as a price discount excluded from the tax base of the VAT, and if it exceeds that range, it is regarded as an discount that is not deducted. This is for the purpose of seeking a harmony between autonomy of business management activities and the expansion of national revenue. Second, the mileage granted by the business operator is considered as a discount amount deducted from the tax base under the VAT Act only when used within 2 or 3 years in order to induce redemption of mileage within 2 or 3 years(differential application by industry is possible), and when 2 or 3 years have elapsed from the time of grant, the amount paid using mileage is a discount that is not deducted from the VAT tax base. Third, if an individual earns mileage equal to or greater than a certain value, the 「Income Tax Act」 is revised to be taxed as other income, or the person who has been granted mileage granted conditional rights that can be used within the validity period. It is defined as being included in the individual’s taxable income as it is granted. Fourth, for the portion of supplying services and receiving payment in full as mileage other than self-earned mileage, special provisions on the provision of free supply of services excluded from the taxation of VAT are made for the amount reimbursed from persons other than those receiving services. By eliminating the competition of statutory provisions, it should be clarified that it is included in the VAT tax base.