응익성에 따른 지방소비세 재원배분과 소비지표

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to review the existing arguments related to the introduction of local consumption tax in Korea and to suggest more reasonable ways of distributing the revenue of the local consumption tax, particularly, reflecting the benefit principle of local tax theory. Considering the current Korean tax system which adopts the Value Added Tax as the major consumption tax system, it is very difficult to introduce a kind of local consumption tax which can secure local taxing powers. The existing studies have proposed several candidate indicators which, in fact, might or might not be considered as proxy variables for the consumption of a particular region. However, many of the studies focused more on the equitable distribution of the revenue of local consumption tax, forgetting or disregarding the fundamental importance of the benefit principle(price signalling function) of local tax theory. This study suggests some indicators which are considered to link proportionally the distribution of the revenue of local consumption tax to the amount of a particular region`s consumption. In sum, it is most important to design the local consumption tax such a way as maintaining a close relationship between the final revenue of local consumption tax in a particular local government and the consumption level of the local government.