재정분권 강화 정책이 지방소비세의 소비지 과세원칙에 미친 영향 분석

With the sunset of the provision for compensating the costs of projects transferred from national subsidies scheduled for the end of 2026, this study analyzes the evolution of the destination principle of the Local Consumption Tax (LCT) in response to major policy shifts and derives implications for establishing the LCT as a genuine local tax. The analysis reveals that although the LCT rate was increased during the two stages of strengthening fiscal decentralization since 2019, the “destination principle”? The core tenet of the LCT has paradoxically regressed to the level observed at its initial introduction. Specifically, the tax revenue elasticity of the LCT relative to private consumption stood at 0.2636 upon its inception, rose to 0.4201 during the period of acquisition tax compensation, but subsequently declined and stagnated at 0.2984 and 0.2734 following the first and second stages of fiscal decentralization, respectively. Based on these empirical findings, this study proposes several policy measures: first, integrating the acquisition tax compensation component into the consumption index-based allocation method to simplify the tax distribution structure and restore the identity of the LCT as a local tax; second, easing the excessively high regional weights of the consumption index to strengthen taxation based on the location of the tax base; and finally, designing an autonomous “horizontal shared tax” system led by local governments to serve as a financial resource for regional co-prosperity and balanced development.