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The comprehensive guide to the world's leading tax firms

As head of Deloitte Anjin's tax practice, Jung Hee Lee has added more than 20 senior professionals to the team over the last 12 months. Kyung Ho Kim and Yong Chan Lee have been promoted to partner. Kim is part of the firm's new Asia Pacific International ... [more]

As head of Deloitte Anjin's tax practice, Jung Hee Lee has added more than 20 senior professionals to the team over the last 12 months. Kyung Ho Kim and Yong Chan Lee have been promoted to partner. Kim is part of the firm's new Asia Pacific International Core of Excellence (AP ICE) team specialising in international tax, while Lee is known for his transfer pricing work.

The international tax team identifies suitable tax exemption rules for its multinational clients investing in South Korea and helps them meet the requirements to receive these tax benefits.

Sang Hoon Baek is restructuring a large private equity client's cross-border investment holding structure to optimise tax efficiencies. By analysing the tax treaty and laws and regulations, Baek provided the client with a new scheme, providing an opportunity to reduce the tax effect. Deloitte Anjin worked closely with the AP ICE team on this project since tax issues in several countries were involved.

Woo Hyun Baik leads Kim & Chang's tax practice, comprising 18 partners and 100 fee earners. The practice has made several hires over the last year, particularly from the big-four accounting firms and the tax authorities. Two partners arrived from Ernst ... [more]

Woo Hyun Baik leads Kim & Chang's tax practice, comprising 18 partners and 100 fee earners. The practice has made several hires over the last year, particularly from the big-four accounting firms and the tax authorities. Two partners arrived from Ernst & Young: Alex Yang from Hong Kong and John Lee from the Seoul office.

The firm has been involved in numerous tax disputes cases, representing clients before the courts.

Kim & Chang assisted a foreign bank branch in Korea that faced a tax audit in 2010. The team negotiated with the authorities to obtain a favourable ruling for the client, who escaped an estimated tax liability of more than $10 million.

Jae Won Lee heads the tax practice at KPMG, consisting of 17 partners and 294 fee earners. Strengthening the firm's ties with the tax authorities, Lee hired three directors from the National Tax Service in March 2011.Kyeong Mi Kim helped the Korean branch ... [more]

Jae Won Lee heads the tax practice at KPMG, consisting of 17 partners and 294 fee earners. Strengthening the firm's ties with the tax authorities, Lee hired three directors from the National Tax Service in March 2011.

Kyeong Mi Kim helped the Korean branch of a large foreign institution achieve a tax saving of W16 billion through seeking a tax law revision to allow net operating loss deduction against branch profit tax.

Dong Seok Kang is recognised in the market as a leading transfer pricing specialist. Kang and the rest of the transfer pricing team advised several clients on customs and transfer pricing audits and on mitigating compliance risk.

Young Sik Kim is the managing partner of PwC, while Soo Hwan Park is the service line leader of the tax department, which has 38 partners and 230 international tax professionals. This makes it one of the largest in Korea.Several officials, including ... [more]

Young Sik Kim is the managing partner of PwC, while Soo Hwan Park is the service line leader of the tax department, which has 38 partners and 230 international tax professionals. This makes it one of the largest in Korea.

Several officials, including judges and a commissioner from the customs service, have joined the firm as advisers in the last year. Partner Henry An, well known as a top transfer pricing adviser, has spent a lot of time recently negotiating with the authorities to secure unilateral APAs for clients.

The firm's range of services also include corporate tax, financial services, M&A, cross-border structuring, compliance, customs, litigation and dispute resolution.

Ernst & Young's tax team, led by Dong-Chul Kim, is leading several refund projects for domestic clients, helping them lower their effective tax rates. The team was heavily involved in identifying and analysing potential tax issues arising from the adoption ... [more]

Ernst & Young's tax team, led by Dong-Chul Kim, is leading several refund projects for domestic clients, helping them lower their effective tax rates. The team was heavily involved in identifying and analysing potential tax issues arising from the adoption of new financial reporting standards – the K-IFRS – in 2011.

Partner Danielle Suh joined from Kim & Chang in December 2010, while Yong Pyo Kong joined in January 2011 from the tax authorities.

Rap Choi's transfer pricing division has had a busy year. The team is involved in the first-ever synthetic bilateral APA between Korea and Taiwan. Since the two countries do not share a double tax treaty, unilateral APAs are in principle the only way to obtain APAs for cross-border intercompany transactions. The transfer pricing professionals are designing a synthetic bilateral APA structure to enhance the ability of taxpayers in the two countries to obtain further certainty about their transfer pricing issues.

Mee Hyon Lee heads the tax practice at Lee & Ko. Like many of its competitors, the firm has sought to recruit professionals from the courts and tax authorities. Pyoung-Keun Song, formerly an administrative court judge, joined as a partner in May 2010.The ... [more]

Mee Hyon Lee heads the tax practice at Lee & Ko. Like many of its competitors, the firm has sought to recruit professionals from the courts and tax authorities. Pyoung-Keun Song, formerly an administrative court judge, joined as a partner in May 2010.

The firm handles a range of tax matters, but is renowned for its tax litigation and dispute resolution work. Lee and Young Uk Park are advising Korean Air on a dispute concerning whether the airline is liable for acquisition tax in the purchase of aircraft in a sale and leaseback transaction. A key case on the issue of aircraft financing, the outcome will set a precedent for unresolved similar cases. Several transactions have been put on hold until the outcome of this case.

Soon Moo Soh and Sai Ree Yun run the tax practice at Yulchon. Dong Soo Kim is recommended as a top tax controversy and litigation adviser.The tax group is renowned for the high quality of its advice on tax planning, multi-jurisdictional transactions ... [more]

Soon Moo Soh and Sai Ree Yun run the tax practice at Yulchon. Dong Soo Kim is recommended as a top tax controversy and litigation adviser.

The tax group is renowned for the high quality of its advice on tax planning, multi-jurisdictional transactions and dispute resolution. The team advises on tax treaties, hybrid instruments, tax deferral techniques, structuring and transfer pricing to achieve tax efficient results for its clients.

Yulchon has been active in dispute resolution, successfully representing numerous clients before the courts and tax authorities. Soo-Jeong Ahn and Ka Ram Chung represented a private equity fund and its investors in claims for a withholding tax refund arising from capital gains from a stock transfer. The client was granted a refund in June 2010, avoiding a lengthy judicial appeal process.

Bae Kim & Lee's tax practice is recognised for its tax planning and tax consulting services to foreign corporations and financial institutions. The team works closely with the litigation department on matters that include advising private equity funds ... [more]

Bae Kim & Lee's tax practice is recognised for its tax planning and tax consulting services to foreign corporations and financial institutions. The team works closely with the litigation department on matters that include advising private equity funds and financial institutions on tax audit defence and controversy. The firm also handles transfer pricing work.

Hwang Mok Park advises on corporate tax, international tax, income tax, VAT, state and local tax, and custom duties. The tax professionals also specialise in litigation – trials and appeals – permanent establishment issues and transfer pricing. The lawyers ... [more]

Hwang Mok Park advises on corporate tax, international tax, income tax, VAT, state and local tax, and custom duties. The tax professionals also specialise in litigation – trials and appeals – permanent establishment issues and transfer pricing. The lawyers have won several court cases regarding tax assessment dispositions.

Choon Cho and In-Hwa Chung are the lead tax partners at Shin & Kim. The department has two other partners and 12 fee earners.The firm advised Korea Lottery Service in a dispute about its entitlement to an exemption or a reduction in corporate income ... [more]

Choon Cho and In-Hwa Chung are the lead tax partners at Shin & Kim. The department has two other partners and 12 fee earners.

The firm advised Korea Lottery Service in a dispute about its entitlement to an exemption or a reduction in corporate income tax after its relocation from Seoul to one of the provinces. The dispute centred on the question of whether an enterprise is not entitled to tax exemption if it is classified as a lottery operator. The National Tax Service assessed the company for about W66.8 billion in income tax as they claimed that it was a lottery operator in substance. Shin & Kim successfully argued that the client is not a lottery operator, and won a decision in favour of the firm. The entire tax assessment was waived.

Cho and Chung are representing a Dutch company in a case focusing on the principle of substance over form.

Former judge Oh-Young Jeon leads the tax practice at Yoon & Yang. The team's eight partners and 11 fee earners handle litigation and transaction issues as well as tax audits.Seung-Soon Lim and Jung-Suck Ryu paired up in January 2011 to represent a client ... [more]

Former judge Oh-Young Jeon leads the tax practice at Yoon & Yang. The team's eight partners and 11 fee earners handle litigation and transaction issues as well as tax audits.

Seung-Soon Lim and Jung-Suck Ryu paired up in January 2011 to represent a client in a case involving a Korean company's purchase of shares in another Korean company from a Malaysian fund. The key issue centred on whether the Korea-Malaysia tax treaty or the one between Korea and the residence of the investors in the fund applied. The case was another to focus on the applicability of substance over form to international transactions, and the scope of withholding requirements.

Yoon & Yang have worked with leading global firms including Asiana Airlines, Korea Railroad, LG, Incheon International Airport and Samsung.