TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
Convention between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of Korea for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income
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....N BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION AND THE PREVENTION OF FISCAL EVASION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME The Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of Korea Desiring to conclude a Convention for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income Have agreed as follows: ARTICLE 1 PERSONAL SCOPE This Convention shall apply to persons who are residents of one or both of the Contracting States. ARTICLE 2 TAXES COVERED 1. The Convention shall apply to taxes on income imposed on behalf of each Contracting State irrespective of the manner in which they are levied. 2. There shall be regarded as taxes on income all taxes imposed on total income, or on elements of income, including taxes on gains from the alienation of movable or immovable property and taxes on the total amounts of wages or salaries paid by enterprises. 3. The existing taxes to which the Convention shall apply are: (a) In the case of Korea: (i) the income tax; (ii) the c....
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....y either Contracting State any term not otherwise defined shall, unless the Context otherwise requires, have the meaning which it has under the laws of that Contracting State relating to the taxes which are the subject of this Convention. ARTICLE 4 FISCAL DOMICILE 1. For the purposes of the Convention, the term "resident of a Contracting State" means any person who, under the laws of that State, is liable to taxation therein by reason of his domicile, residence, place of head or main office, place of management or any other criterion of a similar nature. 2. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1, an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then his status shall be determined as follows: (a) he shall be deemed to be a resident of the State in which he has a permanent home available to him, if he has a permanent home available to him in both States, he shall be deemed to be a resident of the State with which his personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests); (b) if the State in which he has his centre of vital interests cannot be determined, or if he has not a permanent home available to him in either State,....
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....of advertising, the supply of information, scientific research, or any other activity, if it has a preparatory or auxiliary character in the trade or business of the enterprise; (f) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for any combination of activities mentioned in sub-paragraphs (a) to (e) of this paragraph, provided that the overall activity of the fixed place of business resulting from this combination is of a preparatory or auxiliary character. 5. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, if a person-other than an agent of independent status to whom paragraph 6 applies-is acting on behalf of an enterprise and has, and habitually exercises, in a Contracting State an authority to conclude contracts in the name of the enterprise, that enterprise shall be deemed to have a permanent establishment in that State in respect of any activities which that person undertakes for the enterprise, unless the activities of such person are limited to those mentioned in paragraph 4 which, if exercised through a fixed place of business, would not make this fixed place of business a permanent establishment by virtue of that paragraph. 6. An enterprise shall....
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....ituated therein, there shall in each Contracting State be attributed to that permanent establishment the profits which it might be expected to make if it were a distinct and separate enterprise engaged in the same or similar activities under the same or similar conditions and dealing wholly independently with the enterprise of which it is a permanent establishment. 3. In the determination of the profits of a permanent establishment, there shall be allowed as deductions expenses which are incurred for the purposes of the permanent establishment including executive and general administrative expenses so incurred, whether in the State in which the permanent establishment is situated or elsewhere, which are allowed under the provisions of the domestic law of the Contracting State in which the permanent establishment is situated. 4. No profits shall be attributed to a permanent establishment by reason of the mere purchase by that permanent establishment of goods or merchandise for the enterprise. 5. For the purposes of the preceding paragraphs, the profits to be attributed to the permanent establishment shall be determined by the same method year by year unless there is good an....
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....have accrued to one of the enterprises, but, by reason of those conditions, have not so accrued, may be included in the profits of that enterprise and taxed accordingly. ARTICLE 11 DIVIDENDS 1. Dividends paid by a company which is a resident of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State. 2. However, such dividends may also be taxed in the Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident, and according to the laws of that State, but if the recipient is the beneficial owner of the dividends, the tax so charged shall not exceed: (a) 15 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends if the beneficial owner is a company which owns directly at least 20 per cent of the capital of the company paying the dividends; (b) 20 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends in all other cases. This paragraph shall not affect the taxation of the company in respect of the profits out of which the dividends are paid. 3. The term "dividends" as used in this Article means income from shares, or other rights, not being debt-claims, participating in profits, as well as income from other corp....
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....or a political sub-division or local authority or the Central Bank or the Export-Import Bank of that State, it shall not be subjected to tax by the State in which it arises. 4. The term "interest" as used in this Article means income from debt-claims of every kind, whether or not secured by mortgage and whether or not carrying a right to participate in the debtor's profits and in particular, income from government securities and income from bonds or debentures, including premiums and prizes attaching to such securities, bonds or debentures. 5. The provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the interest, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State in which the interest arises, through a permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein, and the debt-claims in respect of which the interest is paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment or fixed base. In such cases the provisions of Article 7 or Article 15 as the case may be, shall apply. 6. Interest shall be deemed to arise in a Co....
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....yments of any kind to any person, other than payments to an employee of the person making the payments and to any individual for independent personal services mentioned in Article 15, in consideration for services of a managerial, technical or consultative nature, including the provision of services of technical or other personnel. 5. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the royalties or fees for technical services, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State in which the royalties or fees for technical services arise through a permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein, and the right, property or contract in respect of which the royalties or fees for technical services are paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment or fixed base. In such cases, the provisions of Article 7 or Article 15, as the case may be, shall apply. 6. Royalties and fees for technical services shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the payer is that State itself, a politi....
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.... from the alienation of any property, other than those mentioned in preceding paragraphs of this Article, shall be taxable only in the Contracting State of which the alienor is a resident. 5. The term "alienation" shall mean alienation in accordance with the law of the Contracting State in which the property in question is situated. ARTICLE 15 INDEPENDENT PERSONAL SERVICES 1. Income derived by an individual who is a resident of a Contracting State from the performance of professional services or other independent activities of a similar character shall be taxable only in that State unless he has a fixed base regularly available to him in the other Contracting State for the purpose of performing his activities. If he has such a fixed base, the income may be taxed in the other Contracting State but only so much of it as is attributable to that fixed base. 2. The term "professional services" includes especially independent scientific, literary, artistic, educational or teaching activities as well as the independent activities of physicians, surgeons, lawyers, engineers, architects, dentists and accountants. ARTICLE 16 DEPENDENT PERSONAL SERVICES 1. Subject to t....
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....y as such accrues not to the entertainer or athlete himself but to another person, that income may, notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 7 and 15, be taxed in the Contracting State in which the activities of the entertainer or athlete are exercised. 3. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to remuneration or profits, salaries, wages and similar income derived from activities performed in a Contracting State by entertainers or athletes if their visit to that State is substantially supported from the public funds of the other Contracting State, a political sub-division or a local authority thereof. ARTICLE 19 PENSIONS Subject to the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 20, pensions and other similar remuneration paid to a resident of a Contracting State in consideration of past employment shall be taxable only in that State. ARTICLE 20 GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS 1. (a) Remuneration, other than a pension, paid by a Contracting State or a political sub-division or a local authority, thereof, to an individual in respect of service rendered to that State or sub-division or authority shall be taxable only in that State. (b) However, such remun....
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....ning undertaken, but in no event shall any individual have the benefits of this article for more than five consecutive years from the date of his first arrival in that other Contracting State. ARTICLE 22 PROFESSORS, TEACHERS AND RESEARCH SCHOLARS 1. An individual who is or was a resident of a Contracting State immediately before making a visit to the other Contracting State, and who, at the invitation of any university, college, school or other similar educational institution, which is recognised by the competent authority in that other State, visits that other State solely for the purpose of teaching or research or both at such educational institution shall be exempt from tax in that other State on his remuneration for such teaching or research, for a period not exceeding two consecutive years from the date of his first arrival in that other State. 2. This Article shall not apply to income from research if such research is undertaken primarily for the private benefit of a specific person or persons. ARTICLE 23 OTHER INCOME Items of income of a resident of a Contracting State wherever arising, not dealt with in the foregoing Articles of this Convention shall be....
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....ubject to the provisions of Indian tax law regarding the allowance as a credit against Indian tax of tax payable in any country other than India (which shall not affect the general principle hereof), the Korean tax payable (excluding in the case of a dividend, tax payable in respect of the profits out of which the dividend is paid) under the laws of Korea and in accordance with this Convention, whether directly or by deduction, in respect of income from sources within Korea shall be allowed as a credit against Indian tax payable in respect of that income. The credit shall not, however, exceed that proportion of Indian tax which the income from sources within Korea bears to the entire income subject to Indian tax. 4. For the purposes of paragraph 3, the term "Korean tax payable" shall be deemed to include the amount of Korean tax which would have been payable in accordance with Korean tax laws but for the exemption or reduction of Korean tax in accordance with the laws relating to incentives for the promotion of economic development in Korea which were in force on the date of signature of this Convention or any other provisions which may subsequently be introduced in Korea in mod....
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.... indirectly, by one or more residents of the other Contracting State, shall not be subjected in the first-mentioned Contracting State to any taxation or any requirement connected therewith which is other or more burdensome than the taxation and connected requirements to which other similar enterprises of that first-mentioned State are or may be subjected. 5. The provisions of this Article shall, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 2, apply to taxes of every kind and description. ARTICLE 26 MUTUAL AGREEMENT PROCEDURE 1. Where a resident of a Contracting State considers that the actions of one or both of the Contracting State result or will result for him in taxation not in accordance with the Convention, he may, notwithstanding the remedies provided by the national laws of those States, present his case to the competent authority of the Contracting State of which he is a resident or, if his case comes under paragraph 1 of Article 25, to that of the Contracting State of which he is a national. This case must be presented within three years from the first notification of the action giving rise to taxation not in accordance with the Convention. 2. The competent aut....
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....t authorities shall, through consultation, develop appropriate conditions, methods and techniques concerning the matters in respect of which such exchange of information shall be made, including appropriate exchange of information regarding tax avoidance. 2. In no case shall the provisions of paragraph 1 be construed so as to impose on a Contracting State the obligation: (a) to carry out administrative measures at variance with the laws and administrative practice of that or of the other Contracting State; (b) to supply information which is not obtainable under the laws or in the normal course of the administration of that or of the other Contracting State; (c) to supply information which would disclose any trade, business, industrial, commercial or professional secret or trade process, or information, the disclosure of which would be contrary to public policy (order public). ARTICLE 28 DIPLOMATIC AGENTS AND CONSULAR OFFICERS Nothing in this Convention shall affect the fiscal privileges of diplomatic agents and consular officers under the general rules of international law or under the provisions of special agreements. ARTICLE 29 ENTRY I....
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....the notice of termination is given. In witness whereof the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed the present Convention. Done in duplicate at New Delhi this 19th day of July one thousand nine hundred and eighty-five on three original copies each in the Hindi, Korean and English languages, all the texts being equally authentic. In case of divergence between the three texts, the English text shall be the operative one. For the Government of the Republic of India (VISHWANATH PRATAP SINGH) MINISTER OF FINANCE For the Government of the Republic of Korea (WON KYUNG LEE) MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PROTOCOL At the moment of signing the Convention between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of Korea for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income, the undersigned have agreed that the following provisions shall form an integral part of the Convention. 1. In respect of sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph 3 of Article 2 of the Convention, it is understood that the Convention shall also apply to the Korean defence tax where charged by reference to....