This paper surveys the German law of taxing income derived through a partnership(including personal companies and Civil Code partnerships), for the purpose of drawing its implication on Korean rules for taxing the income derived by the corresponding b...
This paper surveys the German law of taxing income derived through a partnership(including personal companies and Civil Code partnerships), for the purpose of drawing its implication on Korean rules for taxing the income derived by the corresponding business organizations in Korea. German law is in sharp contrast to Korean law in that Germany characterizes a personal company as a joint business like a civil law partnership while Korea characterizes one as a corporation for tax purpose subject to corporate tax. Reviewing German law offers two implications for Korean legal scholarship. First, Germany has a detailed law of joint business taxation, which could be useful for enacting a detailed law for Korean taxation of joint businesses or personal companies. Second, German idea of characterizing a personal company as a joint business proffers a perspective for reassessing Korean rule of subjecting it to corporate taxation.
Part Ⅱ begins the paper by summarizing Korean law of taxing joint business. Part Ⅲ is an introduction to the German law of joint business taxation, and Part Ⅳ reviews specific points including the establishment of a partnership, contribution of capital, determination of annual income of a partnership and its members, and the limitation on deducting losses in connection with abusive tax shelters. Part Ⅴ critically analyzes Korean law of taxing personal companies in comparison with German law. Part Ⅵ concludes the paper by highlighting the weak spots of Korean law and identifies the issues for further research.