Wednesday, February 01, 2006

It's Official: Antarctica Is (Not) a Foreign Country

Opinio Juris notes here that
(T)he United States Tax Court ruled this week in Arnett v. United States that Antarctica is not a foreign country and therefore income earned there is fully taxable.
and at the same time that in 1993
the Supreme Court ruled in Smith v. United States that Antarctica is a foreign country for purposes of the Foreign Tort Claims Act.

It's an interesting post and I love the conclusion:
So I guess the rule is fairly clear: Antarctica is a foreign country if you are suing the United States, but is not a foreign country if the United States is suing you.

Why am I not surprised?