
Intercompany Loans Involving Chinese and South Korean Affiliates
The tax authorities in China and in South Korea have issued different safe harbors with respect to the interest rates on intercompany loans. Safe harbor rates are often in conflict with what would represent an arm’s length rate. Our discussion poses a hypothetical intercompany loan from a South Korean parent corporation to its Chinese manufacturing affiliate to highlight how the arm’s length interest rate depends on the contractual terms of the loans including date, term, and currency and the credit rating of the borrowing affiliate.