夫妻合併申報之違章責任歸屬及其對裁處期間的影響

Extent of Liability in an Illegal Joint Filing by a Married Couple and the Effect on the Period for Penalty

關於夫妻合併申報時的違章責任歸屬，實務上經常面臨的難題在於：當申報為配偶之一方以不實資料提供納稅義務人申報時，納稅義務人是否因其已在稅捐申報書上簽名，因而面臨補稅及處罰的相關責任？對此，目前多數實務見解認為，在所得稅法第15條規定的家戶申報制之下，配偶一方既然非納稅義務人，則所有因配偶的行為所衍生的責任，都應該由被選定為納稅義務人的一方概括承受；亦有認為，只要納稅義務人可以證明，其對於配偶申報內容的真實性已善盡查證義務，即可免除因其配偶申報內容不實所衍生的處罰責任。上述爭論，不僅涉及夫妻合併申報時的「本稅責任歸屬」與「處罰責任歸屬」，同時也涉及夫妻合併申報對「核課期間」與「裁處期間」的影響。本文將從所得稅法第2條規定的個別課徵原則，以及罪責原則的觀點，進一步探究上述問題，並提出本文的不同見解。

Regarding the party liable in an illegal joint filing by spouses, the problem faced in practice is that when filing tax returns jointly, if one spouse provides false information, will their spouse (who has also signed the filing) be liable for taxes owed and associated penalties? Most commenters argue that because one of the spouses is not the taxpayer under the ''home filing system'' as stipulated in Article 15 of the Income Tax Act, all responsibilities derived from the acts of a spouse should be borne by the one claiming as the taxpayer. However, others contend that should the taxpayer be able to prove that they fulfilled their obligation to verify the authenticity of the content filed by their spouse, they can be exempted from penalties arising from a false filing. The controversy does not involve only the tax and penalty responsibilities of the liable person in a joint filing by spouses. Questions are also raised regarding the ''period for assessment'' and the ''period for penalty'' in a joint filing. This article explores the aforementioned issues from the perspective of the ''principle of individual taxation'' as stipulated in Article 2 of the Income Tax Act as well as that of the ''principle of culpability'' and offers alternative opinions.