상속세 과세제도의 비교법적 고찰과 시사점

The purpose of this article is to identify the problems with our country’s inheritance tax system and suggest ways to improve it. Korea’s Inheritance and Gift Tax Act was enacted in 1950 and comprehensively revised in 1996. The current system has been maintained since the adjustment of tax bases and tax rates in 2000, the introduction of a comprehensive gift tax system in 2003, and the revision of deduction items in 2014 and 2016. As the revision has not been made for a long time, the prices of assets such as real estate have risen, and the inheritance tax burden on the middle class has increased due to the low tax base and high tax rate. There are two ways to assess inheritance tax. The estate tax, which is levied based on the assets left behind by the deceased, is a tax that does not take into account the personal information of the heir, and is adopted by the United States and the United Kingdom. The inheritance tax is a tax levied by considering the property and personal information acquired by the heir, and is adopted by Germany and Japan. Our country is based on the estate tax system, but it also incorporates elements of the inheritance tax system in personal deductions, etc. Japan uses a hybrid tax system that combines the estate tax with the inheritance tax. The problems and improvement plans of the current inheritance tax system are as follows. First, inheritance tax is divided into an estate tax and gift tax is divided into an estate acquisition tax, so they are unified into an estate acquisition tax. Second, adjust the tax base and lower the tax rate to reflect rising prices. Third, the spousal inheritance deduction limit will be expanded and a spousal carryover deduction will be introduced. Fourth, the period for combining pre-gifted property is shortened, but the same rules apply to heirs and non-heirs. For those other than the current heir, the period should be unified to 5 years or 7 years as in the case of the UK. If a separate distinction is needed between heirs and children other than heirs, only the 7-year period for heirs is shortened. We must reorganize the tax system to ensure that the “ability to bear the burden” principle is realized, prevent tax evasion and the outflow of national wealth, and ensure that capital remains in the country for a long time.