Court rules against Lone Star in 168 bln-won tax case

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SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- An appeals court on Thursday ruled against U.S. private equity firm Lone Star Funds in its suit against the South Korean and Seoul city governments to return a combined 168.2 billion won (US$125.9 million) in taxes.

The Seoul High Court handed down the ruling against Lone Star after the Supreme Court returned the case to the appeals court for review in April last year.

The Texas-based firm had earlier filed the suit against the state and the municipality, seeking the return of withheld taxes in connection with profits from its investments in South Korea.

This composite file photo shows Lone Star (top) and Korea Exchange Bank. (Yonhap)

Lone Star and affiliate firms purchased large shares of Korea Exchange Bank, Kukdong Engineering Construction and Starlease between 2002 and 2005, and made huge profits by selling some of the shares in 2007.

They paid smaller taxes than local companies would have, citing the tax treaty that South Korea has with Belgium where the company that made the investment was based.

The National Tax Service (NTS) levied additional corporate taxes against Lone Star and its entities, offsetting them with withheld taxes.

Lone Star then filed a suit seeking cancellation of the corporate taxes and the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Lone Star in 2017, rejecting the NTS' argument the company had a fixed footing in South Korea.

After tax authorities refunded the taxes, excluding the amount from the withheld taxes, Lone Star sued the government and the municipality, seeking 153 billion won and 15.2 billion won, respectively.

While a lower court and the Seoul High Court ruled in favor of Lone Star, the Supreme Court remanded the case, ruling the refund of the withheld taxes belongs to Korea Exchange Bank and other withholding agents, not Lone Star.

yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr (END)

Appellate court upholds order for gov't, Seoul city to return cancelled tax to Lone Star

Court orders gov't, Seoul city to return 168.2 bln won in cancelled tax to Lone Star

Court rules against Lone Star in 168 bln-won tax case

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首尔，10 月 22 日（韩联社）——周四，一家上诉法院驳回了美国私募股权公司 Lone Star Funds 起诉韩国政府和首尔市政府，要求其返还共计 1682 亿韩元（1.259 亿美元）税款的诉讼。

去年4月，最高法院将此案发回上诉法院重审后，首尔高等法院对孤星石油公司作出判决。

这家总部位于德克萨斯州的公司此前已对州政府和市政府提起诉讼，要求返还其在韩国投资所得利润相关的扣缴税款。

这张合成资料照片显示了孤星石油公司（上）和韩国外汇银行。（韩联社）

2002 年至 2005 年间，Lone Star 及其关联公司收购了韩国外汇银行、国洞工程建设和 Starlease 的大量股份，并在 2007 年通过出售部分股份获得了巨额利润。

他们缴纳的税款比当地公司要少，理由是韩国与比利时签订了税收协定，而进行投资的公司总部设在比利时。

国家税务局 (NTS) 对 Lone Star 及其关联实体征收了额外的企业所得税，并用预扣税款抵消了这些税款。

随后，Lone Star 提起诉讼，要求取消企业税。2017 年，最高法院裁定 Lone Star 胜诉，驳回了 NTS 关于该公司在韩国拥有固定立足点的论点。

税务机关退还税款后（不包括预扣税款），孤星公司起诉政府和市政府，分别索赔 1530 亿韩元和 152 亿韩元。

虽然下级法院和首尔高等法院都判 Lone Star 胜诉，但最高法院将案件发回重审，裁定退还预扣税款属于韩国外汇银行和其他预扣税代理人，而不是 Lone Star。

yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr (完)

上诉法院维持原判，责令政府和首尔市政府向Lone Star公司退还取消的税款。

法院责令政府和首尔市政府向Lone Star公司返还1682亿韩元被取消的税款

法院驳回Lone Star公司1680亿韩元税务诉讼案