사내근로복지기금 설립이 기업의 조세부담에 미치는 영향

초록

Prior to the 2021 tax law amendment, corporate contributions to an Employee Welfare Fund (EWF) were treated as donations and were deductible only within a certain limit. However, after the amendment, these contributions became fully deductible, which drew significant social attention to the EWF not only as a mechanism for enhancing employee welfare but also as a potential tool for corporate tax planning. Accordingly, this study empirically examines the impact of EWF establishment on firms’ corporate tax burden, with particular focus on whether the effect differs depending on firm size and whether the fund was established after the 2021 tax law amendment. Using a sample of 12,790 firm－year observations for firms subject to external audit over the period 2013－2024, selected through propensity score matching (PSM), this study conducts regression analyses to investigate the effect of EWF establishment on the corporate tax burden. The empirical results indicate that while the establishment of an EWF generally tends to increase corporate tax burden, the effect varies significantly by firm size. Specifically, EWF establishment leads to a higher tax burden for large firms, whereas it is associated with a reduction in tax burden for small and medium－sized enterprises (SMEs). This difference is attributed to the structural characteristics of welfare systems：large firms, with their extensive and complex welfare programs, are more likely to exceed the deductible limit, while SMEs can operate the fund more flexibly within the deductible range. However, for SMEs that established the fund after the 2021 tax law amendment, the previous trend of tax burden reduction reversed to an increase. This finding suggests that SMEs that established the EWF after 2021 may have utilized it primarily to substitute existing welfare programs rather than to expand employee welfare. This study is timely as it reflects the growing social interest in the EWF following the tax law amendment. It extends the scope of existing literature by empirically analyzing the effect of EWF establishment on the corporate tax burden, a topic not covered in prior studies. In addition, by highlighting a discrepancy between the policy’s intent and its actual effects, this paper offers significant policy implications for future policy design and related discussions.

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