國際金融中心或避稅港藉由提供公司設立管理便捷及稅賦上的誘因以吸引外國人前來設立境外公司。而境外公司背後的支撐即為英美法體制下的極簡的成文公司法。
習慣法系統管轄了境外公司法之成文法典及其訴訟程序，以及法院判決的法解釋及造法之效力。境外公司法雖源始自英國公司法，然經過多年的獨自發展，已呈現出獨特的風貌：一種極簡但卻不失周詳的立法。依照習慣法系的司法運作慣例，成文法不足之處則可透過司法判決予以補充解釋或造法予以補足，故在實務上，簡要的立法未必造成困擾，反而成為避稅港諸國，於推展境外公司業務時的利器，即藉由操作上的便利性，提高各國企業採用之意願。
OECD報告中嚴批的避稅港對境外公司提供的各項優惠制度，亦即一般稅賦主權國無法或不願意提供的制度，比如零或低的稅率、商業資訊保密、無外匯管制、交易與當地企業或居民無涉、離岸銀行設施、為多邊稅收規劃提供機會、政治經濟穩定、有利於外國資本的累積、方便的股權管理及移轉、簡化的財報規定等制度等，皆是境外公司有別於境內公司的特點。此些特點對跨國企業產生無比的吸引力，對我國企業亦不例外。
本研究進而討論我國企業對境外公司之運用模式。研究中列舉分析我國企業常運用的境外公司運用模式，如租稅規劃、控股公司規劃、專屬權授與規劃、國際金融公司規劃及信託規劃等。其中尤以租稅規劃及控股公司規劃模式的運用最為普遍。租稅規劃中最明顯的效果為股利所得稅的緩繳，其他尚有出售投資利得緩繳及租稅協定之運用的稅務效果。而控股公司的規劃則著重於企業購併或合資的法規遵循便利性之提昇及作業快速之優點等。此外對我國企業而言尚具有極大之發展空間之運用模式則為國際金融公司之規劃及信託之規劃。當各稅賦主權國的公司法及其相關法令相較於避稅港國，顯得較為嚴峻不易遵循或無法配合國際商務變化的速度時，經由自由市場運作的結果，企業或高淨值個人必然會選擇國際金融中心及避稅港，作為其商業往來所需之公司設立地。
也因為國際金融中心及避稅港的繁榮似已直接威脅到各徵稅主權國的課稅主權，故國際經貿組織自90年代始即不斷思索，如何保護一般國家的徵稅主權不受國際金融中心或避稅港之威脅。近年來反避稅措施的發展更為加速，包括移轉訂價原則（Transfer Pricing Rules）之制定、反避稅港及反延緩納稅措施（Anti-haven or Anti-deferral Measures）、資本弱化規則（Thin Capitalization Rule）、反租稅協定濫用條款（Anti-treaty Shopping provision）、稅收情報交換（Exchange of Information）等，以及反洗錢法之訂定。目前反避稅措施已為國際間大多數的國家所接受並積極運作的租稅政策。而眾多的避稅港國為免於被國際組織列入協助企業逃漏稅甚至洗錢之黑名單，紛紛採納或配合相關措施，主要作為包括簽訂稅收情報交換之協議、防洗錢法之訂定，及無分國內公司或境外公司之稅賦徵收制度（通常就是全面不課企業營業及營所等稅）等。至此，境外公司之相關業務是否將因而萎縮？由目前我國統計資料顯示，我國企業運用境外公司之業務，除了新設境外公司家數成長率呈緩之外，並未受國際間反避稅措施之影響，而仍舊呈現穩定成長的發展趨勢，此點與國際間的統計數字相較，其趨勢應為相符。 / Offshore financial centers and/or tax havens provide convenient corporate management and attractive tax incentive to allure foreign individuals and companies to incorporate offshore companies and keep funds rest in their jurisdiction. The supporting foundation behind the scheme is the simplified corporate regulation environments in each of the jurisdictions respectively.
Those jurisdictions follow the common law rules which of course govern their corporate laws and the practice proceedings of judiciary systems. Just like other common law jurisdictions, the incompleteness of regulation would be supplemented by court judgments and judicial reviews. Therefore, a simplified corporation law could be rather an enhancement for the offshore company business than an obstacle.
The “harmful tax practice” identified by OECD during its ongoing investigation on offshore financial centers/tax havens concerning their corporation related business such as low or no tax, loose and commercial friendly regulation, secrecy protection, low transparency,…are somehow practically financial and operational benefits for multinational companies and wealthy individuals.
This research briefly reviewed the corporate laws of some offshore jurisdictions familiar by Taiwanese, and also touched the practice of incorporation and tax planning schemes based on the utilization of offshore companies. Such practice includes holding company designs, tax and loyalty planning, international financial managements, and trust arrangements.
This research also discussed some portions of the tax competition arose from the thriving of offshore financial centers and tax havens. Some of the so called “anti-tax haven activities” are Transfer Pricing Rules, Anti-deferral Measures, Thin Capitalization Rules, Anti-treaty Shopping Provision and Exchange of Information, which are important action guideline ruled and promoted by OECD. The other trends noticed are the newly developed anti-money laundering rules and financial information exchange conventions which also imposed heavy load of scrutiny obligations upon the governments of offshore jurisdictions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:CHENGCHI/G0919327201 |
| Creators | 孫珮儀, Sun, Pei Yi |
| Publisher | 國立政治大學 |
| Source Sets | National Chengchi University Libraries |
| Language | 中文 |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Rights | Copyright © nccu library on behalf of the copyright holders |
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