ATJ Asian Tax Journal

Asian Tax Journal

Print ISSN 1738-3323 Online ISSN 2733-9270

A Study on the Calculation of Payment Guarantee Commission for Overseas Start－up Subsidiaries

  • Moon, Kyo-Hyun Hongik University
  • Hyeongtae Cho Hongik University

Asian Tax Journal Vol. 24 No. 5 (2023), pp. 65-93

Abstract

According to the current laws and established precedents in Korea regarding international tax adjustments, it is considered most reasonable to calculate the fair market value of payment guarantee services provided by a domestic parent company to its overseas special relationship corporation using the Moody’s model. However, the Supreme Court has raised concerns about applying the Moody’s model to start－up companies due to issues with data availability for such companies. As a result, domestic parent companies providing payment guarantees to their newly established overseas subsidiaries are facing significant confusion, as no specific alternative method, even through the National Tax Service model, has been proposed. Precedents suggest that to determine the fair market value of payment guarantee services, certain conditions such as data availability and reasonableness of results need to be satisfied. However, practically designing a model that meets all these conditions is very challenging. Therefore, considering the precedents, the Moody’s model appears to be a low－risk model for calculating the fair market value of payment guarantee services to overseas subsidiaries. However, applying the Moody’s model requires credit rating measurements, and since the credit rating of start－up companies is generally considered unreliable, evaluating the fair market value of payment guarantee fees for newly established overseas subsidiaries eventually comes down to the problem of assessing the credit rating of start－up companies. Some previous studies have proposed assigning a uniform B2 rating from the Moody’s model to the first－year credit rating of start－up companies. In this study, in order to empirically examine the issue of payment guarantee fees for start－up companies, we analyzed the financial data of overseas subsidiaries of domestic multinational companies and calculated their Z－Scores. The corresponding Moody’s credit ratings were also analyzed. The results showed that many companies had different credit ratings than the B2 rating suggested in previous studies. Additionally, there was a relatively high consistency between the credit ratings in the first and second years after establishment. Other research also found a high probability of credit ratings being maintained over adjacent years. Based on the findings, this study proposes the following improvements for calculating payment guarantee fees for overseas start－up companies from a tax perspective. First, it is advised to avoid applying uniform evaluation ratings considering the possible distribution of first－year credit ratings observed in the analysis. Second, it may be necessary to allow the calculation of credit ratings based on financial data from the first year, even on a temporary basis. Third, there is a need to consider the possibility of retroactively applying second－year ratings, which have been acknowledged in Supreme Court precedents, to the first year. Fourth, it is essential to explore measures that allow for temporary calculation of fees in the National Tax Service high notification rate model for the first year. This study focuses on the calculation of fees related to payment guarantee services provided to overseas start－up companies and examines the tax application methods, distinguishing itself from previous studies. Additionally, by aggregating the financial data of domestic multinational companies’ overseas start－ups and estimating their credit ratings and default rates through the Altman Z－score method, this study further investigates how to determine and apply payment guarantee fees in light of the Supreme Court precedents.

Keywords

  • Start－up company
  • payment guarantee commission
  • Moody’s model
  • National Tax Service model
  • post－assessment

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