소득세제의 이론적 기초

Abstract

Income taxation in its ideal is characterized by three features of i) direct

taxation, ii) taxation of income as defined by the Haig-Simons definition or

the net asset increase theory and iii) taxation based on the progressive

rates. This paper attempts to identify the theoretical and logical basis of the

ideal of income taxation and find the inevitable differences between the ideal

and the real-world income taxation.

The paper proffers three-fold thesis. First, the ideal of income taxation is

based on the populist notion of equity as developed through the history of

modern world. Second, the populist equity cannot completely penetrate

income taxation, because of the administrative difficulty and the globalization

of the world economy. More fundamentally, however, the notion of equity

cannot unilaterally govern income taxation, which is conditioned by the

conflicts constitutional values, between, e.g., liberty and equity. Third, once

the real world tax rules deviate from the ideal form of income taxation, the

concept of taxpayer, concept of taxable income and other features of the tax

law can be designed only in the context of the tax system as a whole. In

particular, the concepts of a corporation and corporate income cannot be

defined at the level of a single corporation but only from the perspective of

the tax system as a whole.

Part II of the paper identifies the three elements of income taxation,

including the meaning of income, direct taxation, and progressivity, and

further shows that the these three features are interwoven by the single

theme of the populist concept of equity. Part III evaluates income taxation...