대법원은 합병으로 승계취득한 경우를 제외하고는 자기주식의 처분을 법인세 과세대상인 손익거래로 보고 있다. 자기주식의 처분은 실질적으로 법인세 과세대상이 아닌 자본거래로 보는 증자와 같으므로, 자기주식의 처분이 법인세 과세대상인지는 본질적으로 형식과 실질의 대립문제이다. 그렇다면, 대법원은 형식을 실질보다 우위에 둔 셈이며, 형식우위의 이론적 논거는 상법 제342조 등에 근거하여 양도성과 자산성에 있어서 자기주식도 타 법인 주식과 다를 바 없다는 것이다. 그러나 양도성이나 자산성 어느 기준에서 보더라도 자기주식이 타 법인 주식과 유사하다고 보기 어렵다. 결국 자기주식의 처분에 있어서 형식우위는 거래의 ‘대상' 측면만 천착한 나머지 자기주식을 ‘재산'으로 보는 중대한 결함이 있다. 증자를 법인세 과세대상이 아닌 자본거래로 보아야 할 근본적인 이유는, 법인의 본질을 주주들의 집합으로 본다는 전제하에 증자에 의해서는 법인의 소득이 생긴다고 볼 수 없기 때문이다. 같은 이유에서, 자기주식의 처분도 증자와 마찬가지로 법인의 소득이 없다고 할 것이므로 법인세 과세대상이 아닌 자본거래로 봄이 옳다. 결국 자기주식의 처분에 있어서 실질우위의 요는, ‘법인의 소득이 없다'는 것이며, 이는 기존 주주와의 ‘관계'측면을 고려한 결과이다. 이렇듯, 자기주식의 처분에 있어서도 증자의 경우와 같이 법인의 소득이 없다고 본다면, 증자대금을 법인세 과세대상이 아닌 것으로 보는 법인세법 규정을 자기주식의 양도대금에 대하여도 ‘유추적용'하는 ‘해석’이 일응 가능하다고 본다. 이러한 유추해석은, ⅰ) 자본거래를 법인세 과세대상에서 제외하는 법 규정의 입법목적에 부합한다는 점, ⅱ) 증자와의 과세의 형평을 기할 수 있다는 점, ⅲ) 납세자의 자의적인 과세소득의 조작을 방지할 수 있다는 점, ⅳ) 납세자에게 유리하다는 점에서 타당하며, 국세기본법에서 정한 세법해석의 기준도 일탈한 것은 아니라고 본다.
The Supreme Court of Korea considers that disposition of treasury stocks is, unless they are acquired from merger, an earnings transaction on which corporate income tax can be levied. The theoretical ground is that treasury stocks are essentially not different from stocks of other corporations in terms oftransferability and the nature as assets. The specific ground for this position that treasury stocks have transferability and the nature as assets is Article 342 of the Commercial Code of Korea which restricts the time for disposition of treasury stocks. However, it is difficult to deem that this provision is presumed that treasury stocks also have, similar to stocks of other corporations, transferability and the nature as assets. Meanwhile, disposition of treasury stocks is essentially the same as capital increase and capital increase is considered as a capital transaction on which corporate income tax cannot be levied. In the end, the issue of whether or not disposition of treasury stocks is taxable with corporate income tax ends up in the issue of whether to consider treasury stocks as the same as stocks of other corporations by respecting their form or to consider disposition of treasury stocks as capital increase considering the substance. This is essentially a matter of form against substance and the Supreme Court of Korea weighs form more heavily than substance. However, placing form above substance with respect to disposition of treasury stocks has a significant defect of considering it only in regard to the “object" of a transaction. Since whether disposition of treasury stocks is subject to corporate income tax is a matter of whether the payment for disposition of treasury stocks constitutes corporate income, if the group of its shareholders collectively is deemed as the essence of a corporation, not only the “object" of a transaction but also the “relationships" with a counter party of a transaction and existing shareholders should also be considered. If this relationship approach is acknowledged, disposition of treasury stocks should be considered as a capital transaction on which corporate income tax cannot be levied because disposition of treasury stocks is the same as capital increase. The fundamental reason why a capital transaction is not subject to corporate income tax is that no income is generated for a corporation from the transaction, apart from transfer of wealth among existing shareholders. Disposition of treasury stocks does not generate corporate income just like capital increase. In a nutshell, placing substance over form with respect to disposition of treasury stocks means taking into account relationships with all the existing shareholders of a corporation instead of the object of a transaction. More fundamentally, it means that a transaction is not subject to corporate income tax if it does not generate income for a corporation. As described above, from a viewpoint that disposition of treasury stocks should be considered as a capital transaction on which corporate income tax cannot be imposed because it does not generate corporate income, Articles 15(1)and 17(1)(i) of the Corporate Income Tax Act of Korea, which are the grounds for deeming that the consideration for capital increase is not subject to corporate income tax, could apply analogically to the payment for treasury stocks. The so-called theory of Analogie of capital increase provision is reasonable in that (i) it is consistent with the purpose of legislation that a capital transaction is exempted from corporate income tax because it does not generate corporate income, (ii) equity in taxation with capital increase could be made, and (iii) it is favorable to taxpayers. Although there may be a conflict with the provisions of levying taxes on bonus stocks as deemed dividend as the income from disposition of treasury stocks are capitalized, considering that the current taxation system in connection with deemed dividend provisions is incomplete, the theory of Analogie of capital increase provision is still reasonable.