Treaty detail
United States - South Korea tax treaty
A practical treaty page built around the official treaty text, key withholding categories, permanent-establishment rules, and article-level summaries.
Signed
1979-06-04
Effective
1980-10-20
Articles seeded
6
Withholding snapshot
Dividends
Individual rate: 15% · Corporate rate: 10%
The lower 10 percent corporate rate generally depends on a direct-ownership threshold under the treaty. Beneficial-ownership and treaty-qualification analysis still controls each fact pattern.
Interest
Rate: 12%
The 12 percent ceiling reflects the older 1979 treaty's interest article. Certain government, central-bank, and qualifying-institution interest may face lower or zero withholding under the article.
Royalties
Rate: 15%
Royalties on industrial, scientific, and commercial categories generally face a 15 percent ceiling. The article distinguishes between cultural and industrial royalty categories, and the analysis depends on the precise article wording.
Permanent establishment
Construction threshold: more than 12 months
Dependent-agent analysis remains relevant where a person habitually concludes contracts in the name of the enterprise under the treaty wording.
Other treaty flags
Pension treatment is article-specific under the older treaty. Specific pension and government-service articles can alter the general result.
Seeded article summaries
Article 4
Residence
Defines treaty residence for U.S.-Korea treaty purposes and provides tie-breaker tests for dual residents.
Article 4 is the entry point for any treaty claim and is especially important for Korean individuals working in the United States or U.S. individuals with Korean ties whose residence position depends on the treaty rather than purely domestic law.
Article 5
Permanent Establishment
Sets the business-presence threshold and the rules for building sites and dependent agents.
The Korea treaty uses a 12-month construction threshold for building sites and certain installation projects. Service-related and agency-related PE analysis remains relevant where a person habitually exercises authority on behalf of the enterprise.
Article 7
Business Profits
Generally reserves business profits to the residence state in the absence of a permanent establishment.
Article 7 is the practical article for consultants and exporters between the two countries because it preserves residence-state taxation of business profits where the PE threshold has not been crossed.
Article 10
Dividends
Caps source-country withholding on dividends at treaty rates that vary with shareholding.
Article 10 produces the 15 percent portfolio rate and the lower 10 percent direct-investment rate shown in IRS Treaty Table 1. The lower rate generally depends on a direct-ownership threshold and on treaty qualification.
Article 11
Interest
Limits source-country withholding on interest to the treaty ceiling, subject to specified carve-outs.
Article 11 reflects the older 1979 ceiling of 12 percent. Government and central-bank interest, and certain qualifying-financial-institution interest, may obtain better treatment under the article.
Article 12
Royalties
Caps royalties withholding at a 15 percent ceiling under the older treaty's wording.
Article 12 is less favorable than newer treaties because the older 1979 wording retained a 15 percent ceiling across the core royalty categories. Practical analysis still depends on category classification (copyright, industrial, know-how) under the article.
Official text
Other treaties involving these jurisdictions
Computed from the cross-reference graph. Links open the related entity on this site.
This entry cites
- TreatyUS–GB treaty
- TreatyUS–CA treaty
- TreatyUS–DE treaty
- TreatyUS–FR treaty
- TreatyUS–JP treaty
- TreatyUS–NL treaty
- TreatyUS–AU treaty
- TreatyUS–IN treaty
Primary sources
- IRS Korea treaty documents pageVerified 2026-05-20
- Official U.S.-Korea treaty PDFVerified 2026-05-20
- IRS Tax Treaty Table 1Verified 2026-05-20
- Korean NTS treaty informationVerified 2026-05-20
Important disclaimer
This library is for general tax education only. Always verify filing obligations, due dates, and tax consequences against the cited primary source or with a qualified tax professional.