부가가치세 공통매입세액 안분의 기준이 되는 ‘공급가액’에 관한 연구―서울행정법원 2024. 6. 27. 선고 2022구합68954 판결에 대한 비판을 덧붙이며―

In the event that a taxable business and an exempt or VAT non-taxable supply business utilize purchased goods in common for multiple businesses, the amount of VAT corresponding to the portion used for the taxable business can be deducted. If the quantity of purchased goods utilized in each business is uncertain, the deduction rate of the input tax is determined through estimation of the amount of purchased goods as a percentage of the turnover generated by the business in which the purchased goods were utilized. In 2018, the Enforcement Decree of the VAT Act was amended to revise the aforementioned concept of turnover to ‘the sum of the turnover and the amount of government subsidies, public subsidies, and similar amounts that are not included in the taxable amount.’ There are disagreements between taxpayers and the tax administration over the interpretation of the aforementioned phrase, and several lawsuits are currently pending. In June of this year, the Seoul Administrative Court interpreted the above phrase rather strictly, ruling that interest received by a financial holding company from lending funds to its subsidiaries is not included. Although the common input tax calculation formula employs the same term, ‘turnover’ as the taxable amount regulation, it should be understood to have a broader meaning than that of the taxable amount. This is because the taxable amount is a prerequisite for the imposition of the tax; thus, the turnover of the taxable amount is constrained to the consideration directly pertinent to the supply. However, the ‘turnover’ of the common input tax calculation is not confined to the turnover that meets the criteria for the taxable amount, as it is a alternative metric to estimate the quantity of common input goods utilized in proportion to the revenue generated by each business that pays the common input tax and utilizes the supplied goods. It may therefore be included in the apportionment calculation as ‘turnover, subsidies and similar amounts' if it is incurred in connection with the business in which the purchased goods are used and constitutes revenue that is earned on a continuous and recurring basis from activities that can be regarded as businesslike. The ‘interest on loans to subsidiaries of a financial holding company’ is a counter payment received from the subsidiary, which is the counterparty to the loan service, directly related to the loan service, and proportional to the loan principal and loan period. It is revenue arising from ongoing and recurring business activities that use common input goods and constitutes a significant financial amount. Therefore, omitting this would distort the calculation of the deductible input tax. As such, it is reasonable to include it in the common input tax apportionment calculation as part of the ‘turnover, subsidies, and similar amounts.’