Foreign governments cannot claim immunity from property taxes for diplomatic office buildings used to house their employees, the US Supreme Court ruled Thursday, rejecting an appeal by India against New York City, according to dpa. New York has claimed 16.4 million dollars in city property taxes from India and 2.1 million dollars from Mongolia because both countries let staff members live in midtown Manhattan properties that are part of their diplomatic missions. Both countries argued that a 1976 US law that limits lawsuits against foreign governments exempts them from the payments, but the high court threw out their case in a 7-2 decision. The Vienna Convention on diplomatic immunity is vague on the issue and "does nothing to deter this court from its interpretation," the ruling said. "Property ownership is not an inherently sovereign function," the high court said. New York City argued that when a foreign government offers housing to less-than-top-level diplomats, it is engaging in "commercial activity" not covered by the US law's diplomatic immunity.
