TAX RULES IN NON-TAX AGREEMENTS

As of July 2011, the Republic of Korea (hereinafter “Korea”) is a party of seventy seven tax treaties, which comprehensively apply to international tax matters. However, the tax treaties are not the only international agreements having tax provisions. A number of non-tax agreements which Korea has entered into also contain provisions relating to taxation and the most provisions in these non-tax agreements provide exemptions from various types of taxation. The tax provisions in non-tax agreements have little or less attracted attention in Korea, maybe in the most treaty parties as well. It leads, as one of the obvious defects that the non-tax agreements have, that many of non- tax agreements are outdated and of no use to both parties. In addition, the tax provisions are not always consistent with the ones in either the OECD Model Convention or the UN Model Convention and a tax treaty between both parties. The discussion in this article focuses on the tax provisions in international agreements where Korea is party, mainly covering non-tax issues, including the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the Vienna Convention of the Consular Relations, the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations and other agreements copied from this Convention, the head- quarter agreement with international organizations, the status of force agree- ments, cultural agreements, development aid agreements, and other agreements on technical and financial cooperation.