1910년대 조선총독부의 조세징수제도와 납세자의 체납 - 국세징수위임제도를 중심으로 -

Abstract

After its forceful annexation of Korea in 1910, the Japanese Government-General initiated its colonial administration of the territory. To establish colonial capitalism in Korea and obtain the necessary financing for colonial administration through “local procurement,” the Japanese Government-General implemented the “National Tax Collection Ordinance,” related to tax legislations and tax collection methods according to tax items. The “National Tax Collection Ordinance” was a legislation intended to stabilize Korea’s tax collection system by implanting the modern coerciveness of the “Japanese homeland” with regard to tax collection. However, the tax collection policy of colonial Korea was dependent on the administrative “support” of the police due to the weak administrative power of the myeon (unit of Korean township), and was designed such that the modern coerciveness would operate with a higher degree of violence, owing to its opportunistic administrative enforcement regulations.BR By implementing the Financial Independence Plan in 1914, the Japanese Government-General sought to increase the tax items and raise tax rates to increase its tax revenue. Taxpayers responded to the tax increase with arrears. With the number of delinquent taxpayers rising after 1914, front-line regional administrative organizations gradually increased the intensity of response measures, starting with encouraging tax payment and seizing properties, and ending with enforcing dispositions. As such, the number of delinquent taxpayers declined rapidly after 1917, giving the impression that the modern coerciveness of tax collection had been accomplished; in fact, it reflected the conflict between regional administrative organizations and taxpayers.BR The reasons for late payment were broadly categorized as “poverty,” “negligence,” and “unfavorable financial circumstances.” The rapid tax increase by the Japanese Government-General during the 1910s and the coercive attitudes of administrative officials created the class of “negligent delinquent taxpayers,” who did not pay taxes in a timely manner despite possessing the means. On the other hand, the establishment and imposition of additional taxes under the Mass Consumption Tax System—as represented by the tobacco tax and liquor tax—put the burden of the increased tax on the lower class, leading to the creation of “poor delinquent taxpayers,” who had neither the money nor any properties for seizing. Lastly, “financially unfavorable delinquent taxpayers” denoted those in unfavorable financial circumstances who owned properties but did not have cash at their disposal for immediate tax payment, leading them to delay tax payment as long as possible.