최근 5년간 이루어진 문재인 정부의 세제개편은 일자리 창출을 위한 조세지원, 서민층‧중산층의 세부담 축소, 중소기업의 세부담 경감을 위한 조세지원, 대기업‧고소득층에 대한 과세 강화, 종합부동산세 강화 등으로 요약할 수 있다. 그 중 법인세율 인상 등으로 인한 대기업에 대한 법인세 과세 강화 조치는 세계적 개편 흐름 및 과거부터 우리 정부가 지속해 온 정책에 역행하는 것으로 긍정적인 평가를 하기 어렵다. 부동산 대책으로 단행된 종합부동산세 강화 정책은 부동산 보유에 따른 세부담을 증가시켜 수요를 억제하는 효과를 통하여 부동산의 가격 안정화를 이루기 위한 것이었지만, 급등하는 부동산 가격 문제를 조세를 부과함으로써 해결하려고 하는 것은 오히려 역효과를 발생시킬 수 있다는 점에서 그 세제개편의 합리성에 다소 의문이 제기된다. 새정부는 기업과세의 조세정책을 바람직한 방향으로 수립하기 위하여 세제의 효율성, 세제의 공평성, 세제의 국제적 조화 측면에서의 신중한 검토를 하여야 할 것이다. 기업과세의 대표적인 세목인 법인세의 경우 기업의 경쟁력 강화 측면과 직결될 수 있기 때문에 과세의 효율성을 특히 중요하게 고려하여야 한다. 납세의무자 간 불합리한 차별은 지양하여야 할 것이고 모든 조세지출은 형평에 맞게 시행되어야 한다. 특정 사업연도에 대한 조세부담의 형평성 뿐만 아니라, 전체 사업연도에 걸친 조세부담의 형평성 역시 고려하여야 할 사항이다. 세계화, 글로벌화의 흐름에 맞추어 국제적 동향을 우리나라 조세의 개편방향에 반영하는 것은 필수적이고도 중요한 과제이다. 최근 국제적으로 환경에 대한 문제가 큰 관심사가 되고 있으므로, 환경 관련 현행 세제가 국제적 흐름에 부합하는 것인지, 환경보호를 위한 정책에 부응하는 개편이 필요하지는 않은지에 대한 검토가 필요할 것이다.
The tax reforms of the Moon Jae-in administration over the past five years can be summarized as providing tax support for job creation; reducing the tax burden on the working and the middle classes; offering tax support to small- or medium-sized enterprises; strengthening taxation on large companies and high-income individuals; and imposing higher comprehensive real estate tax. Among them, the tax reform to strengthen corporate taxation on large enterprises by raising the corporate tax rate cannot be positively considered as it goes against the global reorganization trend and the previous tax policies of the Korean government. The policy to strengthen the comprehensive real estate tax, which was implemented as a real estate measure, intended to stabilize the real estate prices by suppressing the demand through an increased tax burden on holding properties. However, as the government tried to resolve the problem of soaring real estate prices by imposing taxes, a rationality issue was raised for such tax reform due to possible negative side effects. For the new government to set the corporate taxation policies in a desirable direction, it is necessary to carefully examine the efficiency, equity, and international trend of taxation. The efficiency of taxation is particularly important for corporate tax because it can directly affect the competitiveness of companies. Unreasonable discrimination among taxpayers should be avoided, and all tax expenditures should be fairly implemented. In addition, the equity of tax burden has to be considered for a specific business year as well as the entire business year. It is also essential and important to reflect the international taxation trend in Korea’s tax reform. Since environmental issues have recently become a major global concern, it is necessary to review whether the current environment-related taxation meets the global trend and whether the tax reform is in line with the policies for environmental protection. In terms of the efficiency of taxation, it is desirable to reduce the fiscal dependency on corporate tax by lowering the corporate tax rate to ensure companies’ sustainable growth and strengthen their competitiveness. To ensure the neutrality of taxation, the tax authorities should also simplify the rates of corporate tax. In terms of the equity of taxation, it is necessary to cut down the tax rate on capital gains on transfer of land, etc. to the previous level, and to reduce or delete the limit on the deduction for losses carried forward. In addition, the deduction rate for research and HR development expenses of large enterprises should be raised to the same level as that of small- or medium-sized enterprises under the Restriction of Special Taxation Act. For the tax deduction on family business succession under the Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act, it is necessary to consider eliminating the company size requirement and establishing a single deduction amount instead of abolishing the deduction limit based on the business period. To follow the international taxation trend, systematic and concise regulations should be prepared under the Environmental Tax Act, rather than implementing different regulations under the Traffic, Energy and Environment Tax Act, the Local Tax Act, and the Individual Consumption Tax Act. Moreover, the environmental levy, which serves as a tax, needs to be integrated under the Environmental Tax Act. It is expected that this study can suggest a desirable direction in designing the corporate taxation policies of the new government.