Complete Victory in Withholding Tax on Royalty Payment Dispute

Samsung Electronics licensed various patents from IV IL which is an Irish subsidiary of the IV Group and and thereafter applied a 0% withholding on the royalties paid to the Irish entity, IV IL. In response to this transaction the tax authorities made a corporate income tax assessment in the amount of KRW 70 billion based on the theory that the Irish entity was merely a conduit company that essentially transferred all of its income to its US shareholders. Lee & Ko’s tax team successfully represented Samsung Electronics, the taxpayer, to win on all issues before the Suwon District Court on May 14, 2015. This decision marks a substantial legal achievement because the Korean courts have not recognized the beneficial owner status of foreign intermediary companies under the tax treaties for many years.