Georgetown Law
Georgetown Law Library

International and Foreign Tax Law Research Guide

This guide is a starting point for researching international and foreign tax law.

Treaties & International Agreements

Table of Contents

Brief Overview

Tax treaties help to mitigate the risk of double taxation, reduce tax evasion, and facilitate international trade.  They cover subjects ranging from income taxes, to inheritance taxes, to the exchange of tax-related information. 

The vast majority of tax treaties are bilateral agreements between two sovereign states.  Only a small number of multilateral tax treaties have been negotiated, the most important of which are described on the following page.

The primary focus of this research guide is on three types of tax treaties:  1) model bilateral treaties, 2) bilateral treaties to which the U.S. is a party, and 3) bilateral treaties to which the U.S. is not a party.

Bear in mind that treaties are known by many different names:  agreements, covenants, conventions, and protocols, among others.  The choice of terminology has no legal significance under international law.  For further information about treaties, consult the Law Library's Treaty Research Guide.