A Study on the Taxation on the Income Derived From Technology-Import Related Transactions
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Liang, Kang-Yi
Abstract
The importation of technology not only contributes a lot to the early-stage economic development of Taiwan, but also is a crucial factor for the enterprises to maintain their competence under the age of knowledge-driven economy. Due to the extensive scope of technology and the diversity of technology-importation transactions, the tax issues relating technology-importation transactions are quite complicated and diversified. The relevant tax issues can be summarized into three main aspects: 1) Characterization of the involved income, i.e., the category the income derived from the transactions; 2) whether the income obtained by a foreign technology-provider is within the tax jurisdiction of Taiwan; 3) the tax rate, tax base, reporting and payment procedure for each category of income. n practice, the tax withholders and the tax authorities often take different views on the character of income derived by the technology-importation transactions, hence numerous disputes have arisen. Currently, the definitions for income categories provided by Income Tax Law are either missing or obscure. Therefore, the said Law is incapable of characterizing income categories. Furthermore, the court decisions for certain cases need to be discussed and reconsidered. This thesis attempts to discuss the controversial issues and draw conclusions of the rules. espite that the Income Tax Law has rules for the recognizing the R.O.C. source income, a huge discrepancy of law interpretation exists between the tax authorities-in-charge and the taxpayers or tax withholders. It is natural that tax authorities give priority to national treasury; however, it is questionable whether their interpretation can meet the principle of taxation by law. Moreover, the said Law, which was promulgated in the early stage, seems incomplete in the area of recognizing the R.O.C. source income for transactions involving intellectual property or intangible assets. Accordingly, it is necessary to make a comprehensive research on the issues.he Income Tax Law provides different tax effects for each category of income, which have been enforced for many years. For some income categories, we should assess whether the regulations regarding the tax rate and tax base meet the principle of equity in taxation, the principle of equity in taxation for cross-border taxpayers, and the principle of neutrality for international taxation, etc. Besides, the existence of a fixed-place business or a business agent will have a great impact on the tax effects. Nevertheless, under the current Law, whether a foreign enterprise constitutes a fixed-place business or a business agent in Taiwan is determined from the perspective of manufacturing industry, which is not in line with the evolution of economic environment. As to the issues mentioned above, it is advisable to study the models of international tax practices, for the purposes of improving the tax policy and enhancing the technology-importation transactions of our country.
Subjects
technology importation
characterization of income
royalty
service fee
business income
gain on disposal of property
lease income
tax jurisdiction
source jurisdiction
SDGs
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