공인회계사 세무서비스 제공 관련 독립성 규정의 현황과 개선방향: 국제기준과의 비교분석을 중심으로

When an auditor provides both audit and tax services, there are no specific restrictions imposed by the Certified Public Accountant Code of Ethics or the Certified Public Accountant Act. However, the content of the International Code of Ethics is different from the Korean Code of Ethics in that it classifies tax services in detail and determines whether the auditor’s independence is impaired for each classification of tax services. Considering the impact to the integrity of accounting information caused by impairment to the independence of auditors, the direction for improvement of independence regulations related to the provision of tax services by certified public accountants can be considered as a very timely research. Improvements are required to address differences between the regulations and areas that may result from ambiguous interpretations. First, the majority of tax services has no direct impact on the performance of independent audits, it is considered appropriate not to mention it separately in the Korean Code of Ethics. Second, International Code of Ethics have been revised for non-audit services, so auditors of PIE such as listed companies should consider restricting all non-audit services that might create a self-review threat, regardless of materiality. Therefore, when revising the Korean Code of Ethics, a procedure to address self-review threats caused by each tax service type might be necessary. Finally, subdividing tax services in detail the same as in the International Code of Ethics and analyzing the impact on independence might mislead to a conception that tax return preparation, valuation for tax purposes, and assistance in the resolution of tax disputes are prohibited even though such services might not create self-review threat Therefore, subdividing tax services in detail is not recommended.