所得稅法上之信託課稅－以綜合所得稅為中心－

Trust Taxation in The Income Tax Law: Focusing on Individual Income Tax

陳清秀(Chen, Ching-Hsiou)

信託財產 ； 信託課稅 ； 所得稅 ； 信託導管理論 ； 信託實體理論 ； Trust Property ； Trust Taxation ； Income Tax ； Trust Conduit Theory ； Trust Entity Theory

輔仁法學

67期（2024 / 06 / 01）

239 - 341

繁體中文;英文

信託財產受益權之課稅，依實質課稅原則，原則上應採取信託導管理論進行課稅。至於受益人所得實現之時點，原則上可採取「所得發生時課稅原則」。例外情形，在公益信託或特定集團信託等情形，考量於所得發生時，實際上受益人無法真正享受該項受益所得，故應以實際分配受益時課稅。信託財產之移轉及其所發生之收益之課稅，財政部函釋參考美國立法例，採取委託人是否繼續「控制支配信託財產（信託利益）」，作為信託利益實質移轉之判斷標準，採取實質課稅原則觀點，而非單純以信託契約成立生效時，作為判斷基準。在此考量受益人在信託契約成立生效後雖然享有信託利益，但因委託人對於信託利益仍保有控制權，可能隨時撤銷變更其信託受益人，導致在經濟上仍無法終局的、確定的享有信託利益，故不單純以法律形式為準，應可贊同。又在受益人不特定或不存在之情形，可考慮採取信託實體理論進行課稅，但因信託財產或利益「分離課稅」結果，可降低稅負，但容易造成租稅規避，因此嗣後是否應有調整機制，值得探討。在信託利益之移轉，是否構成無償給與或屬於有償交易，仍應依其原因基礎關係實質認定，現行所得稅法規定文義範圍過於廣泛，應予以目的性限縮，以符合實質課稅原則。

The taxation of trust property beneficiary rights shall be based on the principle of substantive taxation, and in principle, the trust conduit theory should be adopted for taxation. As for the point of time at which the beneficiary's income is realized, In normal circumstances, the "taxation when the income occurs" principle can be adopted. Exceptionally, in the case of charitable trusts or specific group trusts, considering that when the income occurs, the beneficiary cannot actually enjoy the benefit income, so taxation should be based on the actual distribution of the benefits. Regarding the transfer of trust property and the taxation of the income generated therefrom, the Ministry of Finance's letter refers to U.S. legislation and adopts whether the trustor continues to "control the trust property (trust interests)" as the criterion for judging the substantial transfer of trust interests. It adopt the point of view of substantive taxation principles instead of simply relying on the time when the trust deed is established and becomes effective as the basis for judgment. It is considered here that although the beneficiary enjoys the trust benefits after the trust contract is established and takes effect, the settlor still retains control over the trust benefits and may revoke and change the trust beneficiary at any time, resulting in an economically unfinished and uncertain enjoyment of the trust interests, so it is not simply based on the legal form. This view should be agreed upon. In addition, when the beneficiary is not specified or does not exist, the trust entity theory can be considered for taxation. However, due to the "separate taxation" of trust property or interests, the tax burden can be reduced, but it can easily lead to tax avoidance, so whether there should be an adjustment mechanism in the future is worth exploring. Whether the transfer of trust interests constitutes a free gift or a paid transaction should still be determined based on the underlying relationship. The scope of the current income tax law is too broad and should be purposefully limited to comply with the principle of substantive taxation.