跨國電子商務適用國際稅法常設機構原則課徵所得稅之問題及其替代方案

E-commerce and Permanent Establishments: The issues and alternative solutions in the application of the OECD Model Income Tax Treaty

林季緯(Chi-Wei Lin)

指導教授 ： 黃茂榮

國立臺灣大學/法律學院/法律學研究所/碩士(2011年)

https://doi.org/10.6342/NTU.2011.01715

摘要

依照現行以《OECD模範協定》為主要依據之國際稅法，針對居住地國及來源地國間就跨國營業利潤稅捐利益之分配，係採取常設機構原則，可分為物理常設機構（固定營業場所）及代理人常設機構（營業代理人），其情形為從事跨國交易之企業須在來源地國設有固定營業場所或營業代理人始能進行大規模營業行為，此係因常設機構概念發展時期，包括勞力及資本等生產要素於國際間無法移動或難以移動，但隨著交通、通訊之發展，對傳統常設機構原則之衝擊，首先發生於營建工程及石油相關產業，放寬傳統常設機構原則之要件，嗣後因跨國電子商務之特色，即不再須於來源地國設有固定營業場所或營業代理人，亦可從事大規模之營業行為，因此對於傳統常設機構原則有根本之衝擊，以物理存在為前提之傳統常設機構原則，是否仍為跨國營業利潤之稅捐收益於居住地國及來源地國間之適當分配規則，有加以檢討之必要。此外，電子商務無形化之特質，對於所得類型之歸屬亦具衝擊，傳統上，有形商品銷售所生所得類型為營業利潤，無形之勞務提供及無體財產權之授權使用所生所得類型為勞務報酬及權利金所得，此以交易客體之性質、交易活動之形式為有形、無形之所得類型劃分，將受電子商務無形化之影響。因此本文依序於第二章介紹所得來源地之課稅理論基礎，用以檢視於電子商務交易下來源地國是否仍具有課稅正當性，並說明電子商務對於現行國際稅法積極營業所得及消極非營業所得之影響。其次，於第三章說明跨國電子商務機要適用我國所得稅法規定之情形，用以檢討依我國國內法，可否妥適處理跨國電子商務課徵所得稅之問題。再於第四章說明跨國電子商務適用現行國際稅法常設機構原則，構成固定營業場所及營業代理人之可能情形，包括網站、伺服器、客戶群、商品之運送、契約地點、地區系統號碼及電信公共建設等，分析各該情形是否構成常設機構，此外，參照OECD相關註釋及研究報告，說明各種電子商務交易之所得類型為何。第五章則分別介紹各種傳統常設機構原則之替代方案，包括稅基侵蝕法、虛擬常設機構法、數量化經濟存在型常設機構法，分析其優缺點，並做成結論。

關鍵字

常設機構 ； 經濟忠誠 ； 固定營業場所 ； 營業代理人 ； 來源所得 ； 電子商務 ； 國際稅法 ； 稅基侵蝕法 ； 虛擬常設機構法 ； 數量化經濟存在型常設機構 ； 居住地國 ； 來源地國 ； 營業利潤 ； 勞務報酬 ； 權利金

並列摘要

According to the international tax rules based on the OECD Model Tax Convention, the allocation of taxing rights between the residence country and the source country is determined by the Permanent Establishment (PE) principle, which can be categorized by the physical PE and the agent PE. Initially, due to the immobility of production factors such as labor and capital, a physical PE or an agent PE is required to constitute in the source state in order to operate large scale international business. However, as the developments of transportation and telecommunication technologies, the broaden requirements for the existence of a PE had huge impacts on the conventional PE principle. Moreover, due to the characteristics of e-commerce transactions, the existence of a physical PE or an agent PE is not required anymore to operate large scale business. This change, apparently, had significant influences on the fundamentals of the conventional PE principle. In a consequence, there is necessity to assess whether the conventional PE principle, under which the physical existence is a prerequisite, is still appropriate to be relied upon for the allocation of taxing rights over business profits. In addition, the intangible feature of e-commerce also has impacts on the classification of income. Traditionally, the income derived from the sale of tangible goods are classified as business profits, and the income derived from the provision of services and from the use of intangible property are defined as service income and royalty income, respectively. This rule of categorization based on the nature of objectives and the form of transactions will be significantly influenced by the characteristics of e-commerce transactions. Accordingly, Chapter two overviews the theoretical background of source-based taxation and examines its appropriateness in the context of e-commerce. Moreover, it discusses the impacts of the characteristics of e-commerce transactions on the interpretations of active income and passive income under the OECD Model Tax Convention. Chapter three explores the application of domestic income tax laws to cross-border e-commerce transactions with the aim to examine whether domestic income tax laws provide sufficient guidance with respect to the taxation of international e-commerce transactions. Chapter four discusses further the application of existing PE principles to cross-border e-commerce transactions. The circumstances under discussion which may constitute the existence of a physical PE or an agent PE include website, server, clientele, delivery of goods, place of contract, local access numbers, telecommunications infrastructure etc. Furthermore, with reference to the OECD commentary on the Model Tax Convention and relevant research reports, this dissertation demonstrates various types of income derived from e-commerce transactions. Chapter five analyses the pros and cons of alternative solutions to the conventional PE principle, including (1) the base erosion approach; (2) the virtual permanent establishment approach ;and (3) the quantitative economic presence approach. Finally, the conclusion will be presented in the end of this dissertation.

並列關鍵字

permanent establishment ； economic allegiance ； fixed place of business ； business agent ； source of income ； e-commerce ； international tax law ； the base erosion approach ； the virtual permanent establishment approach ； the economic permanent establishment approach ； residence country ； source country ； business profit ； remuneration for services ； royalty

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