The government has undertaken measures to implement the so-called “Google tax,” following an agreement among G20 leaders to tackle tax evasion by multinational companies.
 
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Wednesday that it will compel multinational companies operating in South Korea, such as Google and Apple, to submit annual reports, based on which it will levy tax. 
 
The reports must contain the company’s business activities in South Korea and a list of local subsidiaries as well as local income and tax records.

The ministry said the new taxes will be imposed beginning next year following a revision to a tax law.
 
The revised tax law will also stipulate that newly signed tax treaties must contain information on preventing multinational companies from evading taxes by capitalizing on differing tax laws.
 
The ministry said existing tax treaties will also be revised through a multinational negotiation platform within the framework of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) by the end of next year.
 
The ministry said it will put in place four of the policies which the OECD suggested are essential to regulating tax evasion by multinational companies first and continue to discuss other OECD suggestions through 2020.