All appeals are dismissed.

The costs of appeal are assessed against the Plaintiff.

The grounds of appeal are examined.

Article 21(2) of the former Liquor Tax Act (amended by Act No. 11134, Dec. 31, 2011; hereinafter the same) provides that “The tax base for liquor tax on alcoholic beverages other than spirits shall be the price at the time of shipment in cases where alcoholic beverages are shipped out of a manufactory and the price at the time of filing an import declaration in cases of imports.” Article 21(2) provides that “The matters necessary for calculating the price of alcoholic beverages under paragraph (2) shall be prescribed by Presidential Decree.”

In addition, Article 20(1)2 of the former Enforcement Decree of the Liquor Tax Act (amended by Presidential Decree No. 23598, Feb. 2, 2012) (hereinafter “Enforcement Decree provision of this case”) provides that “The price of imported alcoholic beverages shall be the amount calculated by adding customs duties imposed on the relevant alcoholic beverage to the dutiable value of the imported alcoholic beverages.”

According to the language and structure of the above provision, Article 21(2) of the former Liquor Tax Act provides that liquor tax shall be imposed on the basis of the price which is not the quantity of alcoholic beverages, but on the basis of the shipment price in cases of shipping them out of a domestic manufactory, and on the basis of the time of import declaration in cases of importing them, Article 21(2) of the same Act provides that the tax base shall be calculated on the basis of the time of import declaration shall be determined by Presidential Decree as to how to calculate the price at such base point.

In the event that alcoholic beverages are imported, it is necessary to clearly define the calculation of the tax base at any time among the various stages from the time to the distribution through export and import contract, shipment and customs clearance, so Article 21(2) of the former Liquor Tax Act appears to be determined at the time of import in line with the time of determining the object of taxation in the principle of customs-related Acts and subordinate statutes.