중유(重油)에 대한 개별소비세 과세의 문제점과 개선방안

Individual consumption tax(ICT) is levied on consumption of petroleum, which causes external effects such as discharge of environmental pollutants and traffic congestion. However, the current ICT does not distinguish between fuel and feedstock material use. Heavy oil is used as fuel for ships and machinery, but it has the characteristics of being produced by other petroleum products such as aviation oil, naphtha, and asphalt through additional petroleum refining processes like crude oil.
Therefore, this study aims to derive an improvement plan by analyzing excise tax on heavy oil for OECD and EU countries and pointing out the current individual consumption tax problems. First, the current ICT for heavy oil is as follows.
First, the ICT burden on heavy oil for raw materials is the oil refining business, not the final consumer.
Second, taxation of ICT on heavy oil for raw materials, which is the basic fuel of the industry, can cause negative economic ripple effects due to inflation.
Third, from the viewpoint of tax neutrality, it can hinder the principle of tax equality between imported oil and domestically produced oil and between industries.
Fourth, unlike the purpose of ICT, the heavy oil used in the petroleum refining process has a relatively low level of air pollutant emission compared to other oils or fuel heavy oil. It is lower than the emissions of public power generation facilities, petroleum products industry and iron and steel industry, and the amount of heavy oil for raw materials is insignificant compared to heavy oil for fuel.
Therefore, this study suggested improvement for the heavy oil for raw materials used in the petroleum refining process to be excluded from the ICT or included in the conditional duty－free range.