부가가치세법상 매출에누리와 판매장려금 구분의 문제점과 개선방안―이동통신서비스 요금의 조건부 할인약정을 중심으로―

This study examines the feasibility of regulations on rebates under the Korean value added tax(“VAT”) Law in theoretical and policy aspects, and proposes an improvement plan for the taxation system focusing on conditional discount agreements of mobile communication service providers. The dichotomous separation of sales discounts and rebates causes problems of practical confusion, increased costs of enforcement and friction, and reduced consumer welfare due to unfair intervention in market competition order. Despites the identical substance of a price discount, the current VAT Law requires that the amount of discount can be deducted from the tax base only if it is “directly discounted” from the amount to be received. These regulations not only lack economic feasibility, but also undermine tax neutrality and violate the principle of tax equality. The VAT law, which does not uniformly deduct even well－intentioned rebates from the taxable amount, lacks both theoretical and policy validity. Because returning some of the economic profits to loyal customers through rebates conforms to the principle of competition for efficiency, excessive regulations on these disrupt market order and add to the confusion. Accordingly, considering the European legislative example, it needs to be amended for the relevant legislation to deduct the amount of discounts from taxable amount, in case that the amount corresponds to an economic benefit provided to the customer without discrimination under the prior agreement, despite its name, such as sales discount, sales return, and sales incentives. However, it is necessary to enumerate in the VAT Act the nature and scope of rebate that are not deducted from the taxable amount, such as unreasonable rebates and entertainment expenditure that give preference to specific customers under different conditions. This would be the direction of a desirable policy to play a role as a regulatory tax.