탈세신고의 공익신고 대상성에 관한 연구 — 미국의 탈세신고자 보호ㆍ보상 제도를 중심으로 —

Currently, in Korea, tax evasion whistleblowing is not subject to the scope of whistleblowing disclosure under the Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act (Hereinafter “the Whistleblower Act”). In that respect, one of the most problematic issues of the Whistleblower Act is the lack of legal basis to protect people who reported tax evasion issues(Hereinafter, “Tax Evasion Whistleblowers”). Rather, separately from the Whistleblower Act, the compensation of Tax Evasion Whistleblowers is being governed by the Framework Act on National Taxes, which results discrimination against Tax Evasion Whistleblowers compared to other whistleblowers protected by the Whistleblower Act. In the aspect of comparative laws, there are countries which have early started recognizing the public interest in tax evasion whistleblowing and establishing legal basis to protect (or compensate) the Tax Evasion Whistleblowers. Among those countries, the United States is the most advanced. The United States has a long history of legally recognizing the public interest in tax evasion whistleblowing and has protected (or compensated) Tax Evasion Whistleblowers. Particularly, the United States has specific regulations which are detailly providing the elimination(orprevention) of any harmordamages against Tax Evasion Whistleblowers. Although there are some differences between the laws of the United States and that of Korea in its structure and contents, Korea and the United States have the same understanding in that the public interest in tax evasion whistleblowing should be legally recognized and that Tax Evasion Whistleblowers should be protected and compensated by the laws. However, contrary to the United States, Korea does not have legal basis to protect the Tax Evasion Whistleblowers. Therefore, by referring to the laws of the United States, the Whistleblower Act is required to be amended in order to include tax evasion whistleblowing into the scope of the whistleblowing disclosure under the Whistleblower Act. Through the amendment, the benefits of the Whistleblower Act should be provided to Tax Evasion Whistleblowers as much as other whistleblowers currently protected by the Whistleblower Act. Also, by placing compensatory (incentive) measures of the Framework Act on National Taxes into the Whistleblower Act, such amendment is expected to help the relevant government departments protecting Tax Evasion Whistleblowers while professionally performing their duties of tax imposition and collection in accordance with the Framework Act on National Taxes and the Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act. Most of all, the amendment will contribute to resolving the issues of discrimination against Tax Evasion Whistleblowers and encouraging Tax Evasion Whistlers.