社會企業之立法──以我國公益公司法草案為中心

Legislation for Social Enterprise-Focus on the Draft Public-Interest Company Act of the Republic of China

2013年起，爆發一連串食安問題，使人民逐漸對於社會企業之議題展開關注。行政院亦於2014年宣示為「社會企業元年」展現支持社會企業之決心。廣義的社會企業係指一個用商業模式來解決某一個社會或環境問題的組織，其組織可以以營利公司或非營利組織之型態存在，並且有營收與盈餘。其盈餘主要用來投資社會企業本身、繼續解決該社會或環境問題，而非為出資人或所有者謀取最大的利益。社會企業可以以不同組織型態呈現，然而，目前英國、美國主要以公司型態社會企業作為其立法規範類型。我國於2014年所提出之公益公司法草案亦以公司型態社會企業為其規範內容，提供非營利組織與營利公司間一種新的組織型態選擇，兼具營利與公益目的。美國模範公益公司法、德拉瓦州公司法與英國社區利益公司之立法模式上並不完全相同。前者採低密度管制並無租稅優惠與獎助辦法;後者採高密度管制但搭配租稅優惠與獎助辦法。而我國公益公司法草案融合了美國與英國之立法模式，將公益公司分為第一類公益公司與第二類公益公司，僅後者享有租稅優惠與獎助辦法。然而，在管制密度上前者卻又有過多限制，後者則有管制密度不足之虞。再者，我國公益公司法草案僅以公司型態社會企業作為規範對象，而社會企業並不以公司做為唯一的組織型態。因此，未來社會企業應以專法制定規範，考量各種組織型態之社會企業，方能使社會企業法制健全。

Since 2013, a series of food safety problems have erupted, gradually drawing people’s attention to the issue of social enterprise. The Executive Yuan also declared year 2014 as the “Commencement Year for Social Enterprise”, showing its determination to support social enterprises. A social enterprise in its large sense refers to an organization that uses a business model to solve a certain social or environmental problem. The organization can take the form of a profit-seeking company or a non-profit organization, with turnover and profit. The profit is mainly used to invest in the social enterprise itself and to continue solving the social or environmental problem, in lieu of seeking maximum profit for the investors or owners. A social enterprise may exist in different organizational forms. However, current social enterprises in the U.K. and the U.S. are mainly subject to legislative governance as companies. In 2014, the draft Public-Interest Company Act proposed in the Republic of China also govern social enterprises as companies, providing a choice of new organizational form between non-profit organizations and profit-seeking companies and serving both profit-making and public-interest purposes. The Model Public-Interest Company Law and the Delaware State Company Law in the U.S. are not exactly the same as the community interest companies in the U.K. in terms of legislative model. The former exercises a low-density control, without offering tax benefits or incentives. The latter exercises a high-density control, but accompanied with tax benefits and incentives. Our draft Public Interest Company Act combines the U.S. and U.K. legislative models, dividing public-interest companies into Type 1 public-interest companies and Type 2 public-interest companies. Only the latter enjoys tax benefits and incentives. However, in terms of the density of control, the former is subject to excessive limitations, while the density for control is insufficient for the latter. Furthermore, our draft Public-Interest Company Act only governs social enterprises in the form of companies, while social enterprises may take the forms other than companies. Therefore, it is advisable in the future for social enterprises to be governed by a specialized legal system, taking into consideration social enterprises of different organizational forms, in order to seek a sound legal system for social enterprises.