Bill S-8
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S-8
Second Session, Fortieth Parliament,
57-58 Elizabeth II, 2009
SENATE OF CANADA
BILL S-8
An Act to implement conventions and protocols concluded between Canada and Colombia, Greece and Turkey for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income
AS PASSED
BY THE SENATE
DECEMBER 15, 2009
DECEMBER 15, 2009
90532
SUMMARY
This enactment implements the most recent tax treaties that Canada has concluded with Colombia, Greece and Turkey.
The treaties implemented reflect efforts to expand Canada’s tax treaty network. Those treaties are generally patterned on the Model Double Taxation Convention prepared by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Tax treaties have two main objectives: the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion. Since a tax treaty contains taxation rules that are different from the provisions of the Income Tax Act, it becomes effective only after being given precedence over domestic legislation by an Act of Parliament such as this one. Finally, for each of these tax treaties to become effective, it must to be ratified after the enactment of this Act.
Available on the Parliament of Canada Web Site at the following address:
http://www.parl.gc.ca
http://www.parl.gc.ca
2nd Session, 40th Parliament,
57-58 Elizabeth II, 2009
senate of canada
BILL S-8
An Act to implement conventions and protocols concluded between Canada and Colombia, Greece and Turkey for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
SHORT TITLE
Short title
1. This Act may be cited as the Tax Conventions Implementation Act, 2009.
PART 1
CANADA–COLOMBIA TAX CONVENTION ACT, 2009
2. The Canada–Colombia Tax Convention Act, 2009, whose text is as follows and whose Schedules 1 and 2 are set out in Schedule 1 to this Act, is hereby enacted:
Short title
1. This Act may be cited as the Canada–Colombia Tax Convention Act, 2009.
Definition of “Convention”
2. In this Act, “Convention” means the Convention between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of Colombia set out in Schedule 1, as amended by the Protocol set out in Schedule 2.
Convention approved
3. The Convention is approved and has the force of law in Canada during the period that the Convention, by its terms, is in force.
Inconsistent laws — general rule
4. (1) Subject to subsection (2), in the event of any inconsistency between the provisions of this Act or the Convention and the provisions of any other law, the provisions of this Act and the Convention prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.
Inconsistent laws — exception
(2) In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions of the Convention and the provisions of the Income Tax Conventions Interpretation Act, the provisions of that Act prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.
Regulations
5. The Minister of National Revenue may make any regulations that are necessary for carrying out the Convention or for giving effect to any of its provisions.
Notification
6. The Minister of Finance shall cause a notice of the day on which the Convention enters into force and of the day on which it ceases to have effect to be published in the Canada Gazette within 60 days after its entry into force or termination.
PART 2
CANADA–GREECE TAX CONVENTION ACT, 2009
3. The Canada–Greece Tax Convention Act, 2009, whose text is as follows and whose Schedules 1 and 2 are set out in Schedule 2 to this Act, is hereby enacted:
Short title
1. This Act may be cited as the Canada–Greece Tax Convention Act, 2009.
Definition of “Convention”
2. In this Act, “Convention” means the Convention between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Hellenic Republic set out in Schedule 1, as amended by the Protocol set out in Schedule 2.
Convention approved
3. The Convention is approved and has the force of law in Canada during the period that the Convention, by its terms, is in force.
Inconsistent laws — general rule
4. (1) Subject to subsection (2), in the event of any inconsistency between the provisions of this Act or the Convention and the provisions of any other law, the provisions of this Act and the Convention prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.
Inconsistent laws — exception
(2) In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions of the Convention and the provisions of the Income Tax Conventions Interpretation Act, the provisions of that Act prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.
Regulations
5. The Minister of National Revenue may make any regulations that are necessary for carrying out the Convention or for giving effect to any of its provisions.
Notification
6. The Minister of Finance shall cause a notice of the day on which the Convention enters into force and of the day on which it ceases to have effect to be published in the Canada Gazette within 60 days after its entry into force or termination.
PART 3
CANADA–TURKEY TAX CONVENTION ACT, 2009
4. The Canada–Turkey Tax Convention Act, 2009, whose text is as follows and whose Schedules 1 and 2 are set out in Schedule 3 to this Act, is hereby enacted:
Short title
1. This Act may be cited as the Canada–Turkey Tax Convention Act, 2009.
Definition of “Convention”
2. In this Act, “Convention” means the Convention between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of Turkey set out in Schedule 1, as amended by the Protocol set out in Schedule 2.
Convention approved
3. The Convention is approved and has the force of law in Canada during the period that the Convention, by its terms, is in force.
Inconsistent laws — general rule
4. (1) Subject to subsection (2), in the event of any inconsistency between the provisions of this Act or the Convention and the provisions of any other law, the provisions of this Act and the Convention prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.
Inconsistent laws — exception
(2) In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions of the Convention and the provisions of the Income Tax Conventions Interpretation Act, the provisions of that Act prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.
Regulations
5. The Minister of National Revenue may make any regulations that are necessary for carrying out the Convention or for giving effect to any of its provisions.
Notification
6. The Minister of Finance shall cause a notice of the day on which the Convention enters into force and of the day on which it ceases to have effect to be published in the Canada Gazette within 60 days after its entry into force or termination.
SCHEDULE 1
(Section 2)
SCHEDULE 1
(Section 2)
CONVENTION BETWEEN CANADA AND THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION AND THE PREVENTION OF FISCAL EVASION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME AND ON CAPITAL
Canada and the Republic of Colombia,
Desiring to conclude a Convention for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital,
Have agreed as follows:
I. SCOPE OF THE CONVENTION
Article 1
Persons Covered
This Convention shall apply to persons who are residents of one or both of the Contracting States.
Article 2
Taxes Covered
1. This Convention shall apply to taxes on income, and on capital imposed on behalf of a Contracting State, irrespective of the manner in which they are levied.
2. There shall be regarded as taxes on income and on capital all taxes imposed on total income, on total capital, or on elements of income or of capital, including taxes on gains from the alienation of movable or immovable property, taxes on the total amounts of wages or salaries paid by enterprises, as well as taxes on capital appreciation.
3. The existing taxes to which the Convention shall apply are, in particular,
(a) in the case of Canada, the taxes imposed by the Government of Canada under the Income Tax Act (hereinafter referred to as “Canadian tax”); and
(b) in the case of Colombia,
(i) Tax on Income, and Complementary Taxes (Impuesto sobre la Renta y Complementarios); and
(ii) the National Tax on Capital;
(hereinafter referred to as “Colombian Tax”).
4. The Convention shall apply also to any identical or substantially similar taxes that are imposed after the date of signature of the Convention in addition to, or in place of, the existing taxes. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall notify each other of any significant changes which have been made in their respective taxation laws.
II. DEFINITIONS
Article 3
General Definitions
1. For the purposes of this Convention, unless the context otherwise requires,
(a) the term “Canada” means the territory of Canada, including its land territory, internal waters and territorial sea, and includes the air space above these areas, as well as the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf, as determined by its domestic law, consistent with international law;
(b) the term “Colombia” means the Republic of Colombia;
(c) the terms “a Contracting State” and “the other Contracting State” mean, as the context requires, Canada or Colombia;
(d) the term “person” includes an individual, a trust, a company, a partnership and any other body of persons;
(e) the term “company” means any body corporate or any entity which is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes;
(f) the term “enterprise” applies to the carrying on of any business;
(g) the terms “enterprise of a Contracting State” and “enterprise of the other Contracting State” mean respectively an enterprise carried on by a resident of a Contracting State and an enterprise carried on by a resident of the other Contracting State;
(h) the term “international traffic” means any transport by a ship or aircraft operated by an enterprise of a Contracting State, except when such transport is principally between places in the other Contracting State;
(i) the term “competent authority” means
(i) in the case of Canada, the Minister of National Revenue or the Minister’s authorized representative, and
(ii) in the case of Colombia, the Minister of Finance and Public Credit or the Minister’s authorized representative;
(j) the term “national”, in relation to a Contracting State, means
(i) any individual possessing the nationality of that Contracting State, and
(ii) any legal person, partnership or association deriving its status as such from the laws in force in that Contracting State; and
(k) the term “business” includes the performance of professional services and of other activities of an independent character.
2. As regards the application of the Convention at any time by a Contracting State, any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning that it has at that time under the law of that State for the purposes of the taxes to which the Convention applies, any meaning under the applicable tax laws of that State prevailing over a meaning given to the term under the other laws of that State.
Article 4
Resident
1. For the purposes of this Convention, the term “resident of a Contracting State” means
(a) any person who, under the laws of that State, is liable to tax therein by reason of the person’s domicile, residence, place of management, place of incorporation or any other criterion of a similar nature, but does not include any person who is liable to tax in that State in respect only of income from sources in that State or capital situated therein, and
(b) that State or a political subdivision or local authority thereof or any agency or instrumentality of any such government, subdivision or authority.
2. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1 an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then the individual’s status shall be determined as follows:
(a) the individual shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State in which the individual has a permanent home available and if the individual has a permanent home available in both States, the individual shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State with which the individual’s personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests);
(b) if the State in which the individual’s centre of vital interests is situated cannot be determined, or if there is not a permanent home available to the individual in either State, the individual shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State in which the individual has an habitual abode;
(c) if the individual has an habitual abode in both States or in neither of them, the individual shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State of which the individual is a national; and
(d) if the individual is a national of both States or of neither of them, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall settle the question by mutual agreement.
3. Where a company is a national of a Contracting State and by reason of paragraph 1 is a resident of both Contracting States then it shall be deemed to be a resident only of the first-mentioned State.
4. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1 a person other than an individual or a company described in paragraph 3 is a resident of both Contracting States, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall by mutual agreement endeavour to settle the question and to determine the mode of application of the Convention to such person. In the absence of such agreement, such person shall not be entitled to claim any relief or exemption from tax provided by the Convention.
Article 5
Permanent Establishment
1. For the purposes of this Convention, the term “permanent establishment” means a fixed place of business through which the business of an enterprise is wholly or partly carried on.
2. The term “permanent establishment” includes especially
(a) a place of management;
(b) a branch;
(c) an office;
(d) a factory;
(e) a workshop; and
(f) a mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry or any other place relating to the exploration for or the exploitation of natural resources.
3. The term “permanent establishment” also includes:
(a) a building site or construction, assembly or installation project, including the planning, preparatory work and supervisory activities associated with it, but only if such building site, construction project or activities last more than six months;
(b) the furnishing of services, including consulting services, by an enterprise of a Contracting State through employees or other individuals engaged by the enterprise for such purposes in the other Contracting State, but only where such activities continue within that State for a period or periods aggregating more than 183 days within any twelve-month period.
4. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, the term “permanent establishment” shall be deemed not to include
(a) the use of facilities solely for the purpose of storage, display or delivery of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise;
(b) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of storage, display or delivery;
(c) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of processing by another enterprise;
(d) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of purchasing goods or merchandise or of collecting information, for the enterprise;
(e) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of carrying on, for the enterprise, any other activity of a preparatory or auxiliary character; or
(f) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for any combination of activities mentioned in subparagraphs (a) to (e) provided that the overall activity of the fixed place of business resulting from this combination is of a preparatory or auxiliary character.
5. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, where a person (other than an agent of an independent status to whom paragraph 7 applies) is acting on behalf of an enterprise and has, and habitually exercises, in a Contracting State an authority to conclude contracts on behalf of the enterprise, that enterprise shall be deemed to have a permanent establishment in that State in respect of any activities which that person undertakes for the enterprise unless the activities of such person are limited to those mentioned in paragraph 4 which, if exercised through a fixed place of business, would not make this fixed place of business a permanent establishment under the provisions of that paragraph.
6. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this article, an insurance enterprise resident in a Contracting State shall, except in regard to reinsurance, be deemed to have a permanent establishment in the other Contracting State if it collects premiums in the territory of that other State or insures risks situated therein through a person other than an agent of an independent status to whom paragraph 7 applies.
7. An enterprise shall not be deemed to have a permanent establishment in a Contracting State merely because it carries on business in that State through a broker, a general commission agent or any other agent of an independent status, provided that such persons are acting in the ordinary course of their business and the conditions of the transactions between the agent and the enterprise are those which would have been made between independent enterprises or parties.
8. The fact that a company which is a resident of a Contracting State controls or is controlled by a company which is a resident of the other Contracting State, or which carries on business in that other State (whether through a permanent establishment or otherwise), shall not of itself constitute either company a permanent establishment of the other.
III. TAXATION OF INCOME
Article 6
Income from Immovable Property
1. Income derived by a resident of a Contracting State from immovable property (including income from agriculture or forestry) situated in the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. For the purposes of this Convention, the term “immovable property” shall have the meaning which it has for the purposes of the relevant tax law of the Contracting State in which the property in question is situated. The term shall in any case include property accessory to immovable property, livestock and equipment used in agriculture and forestry, rights to which the provisions of general law respecting landed property apply, usufruct of immovable property and rights to variable or fixed payments as consideration for the working of, or the right to work or exploit, mineral deposits, sources and other natural resources. Ships and aircraft shall not be regarded as immovable property.
3. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply to income derived from the direct use, letting, or use in any other form of immovable property and to income from the alienation of such property.
4. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 3 shall also apply to the income from immovable property of an enterprise.
Article 7
Business Profits
1. The profits of an enterprise of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State unless the enterprise carries on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein. If the enterprise carries or has carried on business as aforesaid, the profits of the enterprise may be taxed in the other State but only so much of them as is attributable to that permanent establishment.
2. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 3, where an enterprise of a Contracting State carries (or has carried) on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein, there shall in each Contracting State be attributed to that permanent establishment the profits which it might be expected to make if it were a distinct and separate enterprise engaged in the same or similar activities under the same or similar conditions and dealing wholly independently with the enterprise of which it is a permanent establishment and with all other persons.
3. In the determination of the profits of a permanent establishment, there shall be allowed as deductions expenses which are incurred for the purposes of the permanent establishment including executive and general administrative expenses, whether incurred in the State in which the permanent establishment is situated or elsewhere.
4. No profits shall be attributed to a permanent establishment by reason of the mere purchase by that permanent establishment of goods or merchandise for the enterprise.
5. For the purposes of the preceding paragraphs, the profits to be attributed to the permanent establishment shall be determined by the same method year by year unless there is good and sufficient reason to the contrary.
6. Where profits include items of income which are dealt with separately in other Articles of this Convention, then the provisions of those Articles shall not be affected by the provisions of this Article.
Article 8
Shipping and Air Transport
1. Profits derived by an enterprise of a Contracting State from the operation of ships or aircraft in international traffic shall be taxable only in that State.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 and of Article 7, profits derived by an enterprise of a Contracting State from a transport by a ship or aircraft, where such transport is principally between places in the other Contracting State, may be taxed in that other State.
3. For the purposes of this Article:
(a) the term “profits” includes gross revenue earned directly from the operation of ships or aircraft in international traffic, and
(b) the term “operation of ships or aircraft” by an enterprise also includes:
(i) the chartering or leasing of ships or aircraft on a bareboat basis;
(ii) the leasing of containers and related equipment,
provided that this chartering or leasing is incidental to the operation by that enterprise of ships or aircraft in international traffic.
4. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall also apply to profits from the participation in a pool, a joint business or an international operating agency.
Article 9
Associated Enterprises
1. Where
(a) an enterprise of a Contracting State participates directly or indirectly in the management, control or capital of an enterprise of the other Contracting State, or
(b) the same persons participate directly or indirectly in the management, control or capital of an enterprise of a Contracting State and an enterprise of the other Contracting State,
and in either case conditions are made or imposed between the two enterprises in their commercial or financial relations that differ from those that would be made between independent enterprises, then any profits which would, but for those conditions, have accrued to one of the enterprises, but, by reason of those conditions, has not so accrued, may be included in the profits of that enterprise and taxed accordingly.
2. Where a Contracting State includes in the profits of an enterprise of that State — and taxes accordingly — profits on which an enterprise of the other Contracting State has been charged to tax in that other State and the profits so included are profits that would have accrued to the enterprise of the first mentioned State if the conditions made between the two enterprises had been those that would have been made between independent enterprises, then that other State, if it agrees that the adjustment made by the first-mentioned State is justified, shall make an appropriate adjustment to the amount of tax charged therein on those profits. In determining such adjustment, due regard shall be had to the other provisions of this Convention and the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall if necessary consult each other.
3. A Contracting State shall not change the income of an enterprise in the circumstances referred to in paragraph 1 after the expiry of the time limits provided in its domestic laws and, in any case, after seven years from the end of the year in which the income that would be subject to such change would, but for the conditions referred to in paragraph 1, have been attributed to that enterprise.
4. The provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not apply in the case of fraud or wilful default.
Article 10
Dividends
1. Dividends paid by a company which is a resident of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. However, such dividends may also be taxed in the Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident and according to the laws of that State, but if the beneficial owner of the dividends is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed:
(a) 5 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends if the beneficial owner is a company that controls directly or indirectly at least 10 per cent of the voting power in the company paying the dividends; and
(b) 15 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends, in all other cases.
This paragraph shall not affect the taxation of the company in respect of the profits out of which the dividends are paid.
3. The term “dividends” as used in this Article means income from shares, “jouissance” shares or “jouissance” rights, mining shares, founders’ shares or other rights, not being debt-claims, participating in profits, as well as income from other rights which is subjected to the same taxation treatment as income from shares by the laws of the State of which the company making the distribution is a resident.
4. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the dividends, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident through a permanent establishment situated therein and the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment. In such case the provisions of Article 7 shall apply.
5. Where a company that is a resident of a Contracting State derives profits or income from the other Contracting State, that other State may not impose any tax on the dividends paid by the company, except insofar as such dividends are paid to a resident of that other State or insofar as the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with a permanent establishment situated in that other State, nor subject the company’s undistributed profits to a tax on the company’s undistributed profits, even if the dividends paid or the undistributed profits consist wholly or partly of profits or income arising in such other State.
6. Nothing in this Convention shall be construed as preventing a Contracting State from imposing on the earnings of a company attributable to a permanent establishment in that State, or the earnings attributable to the alienation of immovable property situated in that State by a company carrying on a trade in immovable property, a tax in addition to the tax that would be chargeable on the earnings of a company that is a national of that State, except that any additional tax so imposed shall not exceed five per cent of the amount of such earnings that have not been subjected to such additional tax in previous taxation years. For the purpose of this provision, the term “earnings” means the earnings attributable to the alienation of such immovable property situated in a Contracting State as may be taxed by that State under the provisions of Article 6 or of paragraph 1 of Article 13, and the profits, including any gains, attributable to a permanent establishment in a Contracting State in a year and previous years, after deducting therefrom all taxes, other than the additional tax referred to herein, imposed on such profits in that State.
Article 11
Interest
1. Interest arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. However, such interest may also be taxed in the Contracting State in which it arises and according to the laws of that State, but if the beneficial owner of the interest is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed 10 per cent of the gross amount of the interest.
3. The term “interest” as used in this Article means income from debt-claims of every kind, whether or not secured by mortgage, and in particular, income from government securities and income from bonds or debentures, including premiums and prizes attaching to such securities, bonds or debentures, as well as any other income which is subjected to the same taxation treatment as income from money lent by the laws of the State in which the income arises. However, the term “interest” does not include income dealt with in Article 8 or in Article 10.
4. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the interest, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State in which the interest arises through a permanent establishment situated therein and the debt-claim in respect of which the interest is paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment. In such case, the provisions of Article 7 shall apply.
5. Interest shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the payer is a resident of that State. Where, however, the person paying the interest, whether the payer is a resident of a Contracting State or not, has in a Contracting State a permanent establishment in connection with which the indebtedness on which the interest is paid was incurred, and such interest is borne by such permanent establishment, then such interest shall be deemed to arise in the Contracting State in which the permanent establishment is situated.
6. Where, by reason of a special relationship between the payer and the beneficial owner or between both of them and some other person, the amount of the interest, having regard to the debt-claim for which it is paid, exceeds the amount that would have been agreed upon by the payer and the beneficial owner in the absence of such relationship, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to the last-mentioned amount. In such case, the excess part of the payments shall remain taxable according to the laws of each Contracting State, due regard being had to the other provisions of this Convention.
Article 12
Royalties
1. Royalties arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. However, such royalties may also be taxed in the Contracting State in which they arise and according to the laws of that State, but if the beneficial owner of the royalties is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed 10 per cent of the gross amount of the royalties.
3. The term “royalties” as used in this Article means payments of any kind received as a consideration for the use of, or the right to use, any copyright of literary, artistic or scientific work including cinematographic films or movies, tapes and other means of audio and video reproduction, patent, trade mark, design or model, plan, secret formula or process or other intangible property, or for the use of, or the right to use, industrial, commercial or scientific equipment or for information concerning industrial, commercial or scientific experience. The term “royalties” also includes payments received as consideration for the furnishing of technical assistance, technical services and consulting services. However, the term “royalties” does not include income dealt with in Article 8.
4. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the royalties, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State in which the royalties arise, through a permanent establishment situated therein and the right or property in respect of which the royalties are paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment. In such case, the provisions of Article 7 shall apply.
5. Royalties shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the payer is a resident of that State. Where, however, the person paying the royalties, whether the payer is a resident of a Contracting State or not, has in a Contracting State a permanent establishment in connection with which the obligation to pay the royalties was incurred, and such royalties are borne by such permanent establishment, then such royalties shall be deemed to arise in the State in which the permanent establishment is situated.
6. Where, by reason of a special relationship between the payer and the beneficial owner or between both of them and another person, the amount of the royalties, having regard to the use, right or information for which they are paid, exceeds the amount that would have been agreed upon by the payer and the beneficial owner in the absence of such relationship, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to the last-mentioned amount. In such case, the excess part of the payments shall remain taxable according to the laws of each Contracting State, due regard being had to the other provisions of this Convention.
Article 13
Capital Gains
1. Gains derived by a resident of a Contracting State from the alienation of immovable property situated in the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. Gains from the alienation of movable property forming part of the business property of a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a Contracting State has or had in the other Contracting State, including such gains from the alienation of such a permanent establishment (alone or with the whole enterprise) may be taxed in that other State.
3. Gains derived by an enterprise of a Contracting State from the alienation of ships or aircraft operated in international traffic or movable property pertaining to, the operation of such ships or aircraft shall be taxable only in that State.
4. Gains derived by a resident of a Contracting State from the alienation of
(a) shares deriving more than 50 per cent of their value directly or indirectly from immovable property situated in the other State;
(b) an interest in a partnership, trust or other entity, deriving more than 50 per cent of its value directly or indirectly from immovable property situated in the other State; or
(c) shares or other rights in the capital of a company that is a resident of the other State, where the resident of the first-mentioned State owned, at any time within the twelve-month period preceding the alienation directly or indirectly 25 per cent or more of the capital of that company,
may be taxed in that other State.
5. Gains from the alienation of any property, other than that referred to in paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4, shall be taxable only in the Contracting State of which the alienator is a resident.
6. The provisions of paragraph 5 shall not affect the right of a Contracting State to levy, according to its law, a tax on gains from the alienation of any property, other than property to which the provisions of paragraph 7 apply, derived by an individual who is a resident of the other Contracting State and has been a resident of the first-mentioned State at any time during the six years immediately preceding the alienation of the property.
7. Where an individual who ceases to be a resident of a Contracting State, and immediately thereafter becomes a resident of the other Contracting State, is treated for the purposes of taxation in the first-mentioned State as having alienated a property and is taxed in that State by reason thereof, the individual may elect to be treated for purposes of taxation in the other State as if the individual had, immediately before becoming a resident of that State, sold and repurchased the property for an amount equal to its fair market value at that time. However, this provision shall not apply to property any gain from which, arising immediately before the individual became a resident of that other State, may be taxed in that other State nor to immovable property situated in a third State.
Article 14
Income from Employment
1. Subject to the provisions of Articles 15, 17 and 18, salaries, wages and other remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment shall be taxable only in that State unless the employment is exercised in the other Contracting State. If the employment is so exercised, such remuneration as is derived therefrom may be taxed in that other State.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment exercised in the other Contracting State shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned State if:
(a) the recipient is present in the other State for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in any twelve month period commencing or ending in the fiscal year concerned, and
(b) the remuneration is paid by, or on behalf of, an employer who is not a resident of the other State, and
(c) the remuneration is not borne by a permanent establishment which the employer has in the other State.
3. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, remuneration derived in respect of an employment exercised aboard a ship or aircraft operated in international traffic by an enterprise of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State unless the remuneration is derived by a resident of the other Contracting State.
Article 15
Directors’ Fees
Directors’ fees and other similar payments derived by a resident of a Contracting State in the capacity as a member of the board of directors or a similar body of a company which is a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
Article 16
Artistes and Sportspersons
1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 7 and 14, income derived by a resident of a Contracting State as an entertainer, such as a theatre, motion picture, radio or television artiste, or a musician, or as a sportsperson, from that resident’s personal activities as such exercised in the other Contracting State, may be taxed in that other State. The income to which this paragraph refers includes income from any personal activity in the other Contracting State related to that resident’s reputation as an entertainer or sportsperson.
2. Where income in respect of personal activities exercised by an entertainer or a sportsperson in that individual’s capacity as such accrues not to the entertainer or sportsperson personally but to another person, that income may, notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 7 and 14, be taxed in the Contracting State in which the activities of the entertainer or sportsperson are exercised.
3. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall not apply if it is established that neither the entertainer or the sportsperson nor persons related thereto participate directly or indirectly in the profits of the person referred to in that paragraph.
Article 17
Pensions and Annuities
1. Pensions and annuities arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. Pensions arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may also be taxed in the State in which they arise and according to the laws of that State. However, in the case of periodic pension payments, the tax so charged shall not exceed the lesser of:
(a) 15 per cent of the gross amount of the payment; and
(b) the rate determined by reference to the amount of tax that the recipient of the payment would otherwise be required to pay for the year on the total amount of the periodic pension payments received by the individual in the year, if the individual were resident in the Contracting State in which the payment arises.
3. Annuities other than pensions arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may also be taxed in the State in which they arise and according to the law of that State, but the tax so charged shall not exceed 15 per cent of the portion thereof that is subject to tax in that State. However, this limitation does not apply to lump-sum payments arising on the surrender, cancellation, redemption, sale or other alienation of an annuity, or to payments of any kind under an annuity contract the cost of which was deductible, in whole or in part, in computing the income of any person who acquired the contract.
4. Notwithstanding anything in this Convention
(a) war pensions and allowances (including pensions and allowances paid to war veterans or paid as a consequence of damages or injuries suffered as a consequence of a war) arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State shall be exempt from tax in that other State to the extent that they would be exempt from tax if received by a resident of the first-mentioned State; and
(b) alimony and other similar support payments arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State who is subject to tax therein in respect thereof shall be taxable only in that other State, but the amount taxable in that other State shall not exceed the amount that would be taxable in the first-mentioned State if the recipient were a resident thereof.
Article 18
Government Service
1. (a) Salaries, wages and other similar remuneration, other than a pension, paid by a Contracting State or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof to an individual in respect of services rendered to that State or subdivision or authority shall be taxable only in that State.
(b) However, such salaries, wages and other similar remuneration shall be taxable only in the other Contracting State if the services are rendered in that State and the individual is a resident of that State who:
(i) is a national of that State, or
(ii) did not become a resident of that State solely for the purpose of rendering the services.
2. The provisions of Articles 14, 15 and 16 shall apply to salaries, wages and other similar remuneration in respect of services rendered in connection with a business carried on by a Contracting State or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof.
Article 19
Students
Payments which a student or business apprentice who is, or was immediately before visiting a Contracting State, a resident of the other Contracting State and who is present in the first-mentioned State solely for the purpose of that individual’s education or training receives for the purpose of that individual’s maintenance, education or training shall not be taxed in that State, if such payments arise from sources outside that State.
Article 20
Other Income
1. Items of income of a resident of a Contracting State not dealt with in the foregoing Articles of this Convention and arising from sources in the other Contracting State may also be taxed in that other Contracting State.
2. In the case of Canada, where such income is income from a trust, other than a trust to which contributions were deductible, the tax so charged shall not exceed 15 per cent of the gross amount of the income if the beneficial owner is a resident of Colombia, provided that the income is taxable in Colombia.
IV. TAXATION OF CAPITAL
Article 21
Capital
1. Capital represented by immovable property owned by a resident of a Contracting State and situated in the other Contracting State, may be taxed in that other State.
2. Capital represented by movable property forming part of the business property of a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
3. Capital represented by ships or aircraft operated by an enterprise of a Contracting State in international traffic, and by movable property pertaining to the operation of such ships or aircraft, shall be taxable only in that State.
4. All other elements of capital of a resident of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State.
V. METHODS FOR ELIMINATION OF DOUBLE TAXATION
Article 22
Elimination of Double Taxation
1. In the case of Canada, double taxation shall be avoided as follows:
(a) subject to the existing provisions of the law of Canada regarding the deduction from tax payable in Canada of tax paid in a territory outside Canada and to any subsequent modification of those provisions — which shall not affect the general principle hereof — and unless a greater deduction or relief is provided under the laws of Canada, tax payable in Colombia on profits, income or gains arising in Colombia shall be deducted from any Canadian tax payable in respect of such profits, income or gains;
(b) subject to the existing provisions of the law of Canada regarding the allowance as a credit against Canadian tax of tax payable in a territory outside Canada and to any subsequent modification of those provisions — which shall not affect the general principle hereof — where a company which is a resident of Colombia pays a dividend to a company which is a resident of Canada and which controls directly or indirectly at least 10 per cent of the voting power in the first-mentioned company, the credit shall take into account the tax payable in Colombia by that first-mentioned company in respect of the profits out of which such dividend is paid; and
(c) where, in accordance with any provision of the Convention, income derived by a resident of Canada is exempt from tax in Canada, Canada may nevertheless, in calculating the amount of tax on other income, take into account the exempted income.
2. In the case of Colombia, double taxation shall be avoided as follows:
(a) Where a resident of a Colombia derives income or owns elements of capital which, under this Convention, may be taxed in the other Contracting State, Colombia shall, subject to the limitations of its domestic laws, allow:
(i) as a deduction (descuento) from the tax on the income of that resident an amount equal to the income tax paid in the other State;
(ii) as a deduction (descuento) from the tax on the capital of that resident an amount equal to the tax paid in the other State on those elements of capital; and
(iii) as a deduction (descuento) from the corporate income tax effectively paid by a company that pays out dividends, an amount corresponding to the profits out of which such dividends are paid.
However, such deduction (descuento) shall not exceed that part of the income tax or capital tax calculated before the deduction (descuento) is given, which is attributable to the income or the elements of capital which may be taxed in that other State.
(b) Where, under any provision of this Convention, income derived or capital owned by a resident of Colombia is exempt from tax in Colombia, Colombia may nevertheless, in calculating the amount of tax on the remaining income or capital of such resident, take into account the exempted income or capital.
3. For the purposes of this Article, profits, income or gains of a resident of a Contracting State that may be taxed in the other Contracting State in accordance with this Convention shall be deemed to arise from sources in that other State.
VI. SPECIAL PROVISIONS
Article 23
Non-Discrimination
1. Nationals of a Contracting State shall not be subjected in the other Contracting State to any taxation or any requirement connected therewith that is more burdensome than the taxation and connected requirements to which nationals of that other State in the same circumstances, in particular with respect to residence, are or may be subjected.
2. The taxation on a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State shall not be less favourably levied in that other State than the taxation levied on enterprises of that other State carrying on the same activities.
3. Nothing in this Article shall be construed as obliging a Contracting State to grant to residents of the other Contracting State any personal allowances, reliefs and reductions for taxation purposes on account of civil status or family responsibilities which it grants to its own residents.
4. Enterprises of a Contracting State, the capital of which is wholly or partly owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by one or more residents of the other Contracting State, shall not be subjected in the first-mentioned State to any taxation or any requirement connected therewith which is more burdensome than the taxation and connected requirements to which other similar enterprises which are residents of the first-mentioned State, the capital of which is wholly or partly owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by one or more residents of a third State, are or may be subjected.
5. In this Article, the term “taxation” means taxes that are the subject of this Convention.
Article 24
Mutual Agreement Procedure
1. Where a person considers that the actions of one or both of the Contracting States result or will result for that person in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, that person may, irrespective of the remedies provided by the domestic law of those States, address to the competent authority of the Contracting State of which that person is a resident or, alternatively, if that person’s case comes under paragraph 1 of Article 23 to that of the Contracting State of which that person is a national, an application in writing stating the grounds for claiming the revision of such taxation. To be admissible, the said application must be submitted within three years from the first notification of the action resulting in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of the Convention.
2. The competent authority referred to in paragraph 1 shall endeavour, if the objection appears to it to be justified and if it is not itself able to arrive at a satisfactory solution, to resolve the case by mutual agreement with the competent authority of the other Contracting State, with a view to the avoidance of taxation not in accordance with the Convention. Any agreement reached shall be implemented notwithstanding any time limits in the domestic law of the Contracting States.
3. A Contracting State shall not, after the expiry of the time limits provided in its domestic laws and, in any case, after seven years from the end of the taxable period to which the income concerned was attributed, increase the tax base of a resident of either of the Contracting States by including therein income that has also been included in income in the other Contracting State. This paragraph shall not apply in the case of fraud or wilful default.
4. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall endeavour to resolve by mutual agreement any difficulties or doubts arising as to the interpretation or application of the Convention.
5. The competent authorities of the Contracting States may consult together for the elimination of double taxation in cases not provided for in the Convention and may communicate with each other directly for the purpose of applying the Convention.
Article 25
Exchange of Information
1. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall exchange such information as is foreseeably relevant for carrying out the provisions of this Convention or to the administration or enforcement of the domestic laws concerning taxes of every kind and description imposed on behalf of the Contracting States, insofar as the taxation thereunder is not contrary to the Convention. The exchange of information is not restricted by Articles 1 and 2.
2. Any information received under paragraph 1 by a Contracting State shall be treated as secret in the same manner as information obtained under the domestic laws of that State and shall be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) concerned with the assessment or collection of, the enforcement in respect of, the determination of appeals in relation to taxes, or the oversight of the above. Such persons or authorities shall use the information only for such purposes. They may disclose the information in public court proceedings or in judicial decisions.
3. In no case shall the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 be construed so as to impose on a Contracting State the obligation
(a) to carry out administrative measures at variance with the laws and the administrative practice of that or of the other Contracting State;
(b) to supply information that is not obtainable under the laws or in the normal course of the administration of that or of the other Contracting State; or
(c) to supply information that would disclose any trade, business, industrial, commercial or professional secret or trade process, or information, the disclosure of which would be contrary to public policy (ordre public).
4. If information is requested by a Contracting State in accordance with this Article, the other Contracting State shall use its information gathering measures to obtain the requested information, even though the other State does not need such information for its own tax purposes. The obligation contained in the preceding sentence is subject to the limitations of paragraph 3 but in no case shall such limitations be construed to permit a Contracting State to decline to supply information solely because it has no domestic interest in such information.
5. In no case shall the provisions of paragraph 3 be construed to permit a Contracting State to decline to supply information solely because the information is held by a bank, other financial institution, nominee or person acting in an agency or fiduciary capacity or because the information relates to ownership interests in a person.
Article 26
Anti-Abuse Clauses
1. The provisions of Articles 10, 11 and 12 shall not apply if the purpose or one of the main purposes of any person in relation to the creation or assignment of a share, a debt-claim, or a right with respect to which dividends, interest or royalties are paid, was to derive benefits from one or more of those Articles through such creation or assignment.
2. Nothing in the Convention shall be construed as preventing a Contracting State from imposing a tax on amounts included in the income of a resident of that State with respect to a partnership, trust, company, or other entity in which that resident has an interest.
3. The Convention shall not apply to any company, trust or other entity that is a resident of a Contracting State and is beneficially owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by one or more persons who are not residents of that State, if the amount of the tax imposed on the income or capital of the company, trust, partnership or other entity by that State is substantially lower than the amount that would be imposed by that State (after taking into account any reduction or offset of the amount of tax in any manner, including a refund, reimbursement, contribution, credit, or allowance to the company, trust or partnership, or to any other person) if all of the shares of the capital stock of the company or all of the interests in the trust or other entity, as the case may be, were beneficially owned by one or more individuals who were residents of that State.
4. In the event that one or more of the provisions of the Convention give rise to results that were not intended or envisaged thereunder, the Contracting States shall consult each other on the matter with a view towards reaching a mutually acceptable solution, including possible amendments to the Convention.
Article 27
Members of Diplomatic Missions and Consular Posts
1. Nothing in this Convention shall affect the fiscal privileges of members of diplomatic missions or consular posts under the general rules of international law or under the provisions of special agreements.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 4, an individual who is a member of a diplomatic mission, consular post or permanent mission of a Contracting State that is situated in the other Contracting State or in a third State shall be deemed for the purposes of the Convention to be a resident only of the sending State if that individual is liable in the sending State to the same obligations in relation to tax on total income as are residents of that sending State.
Article 28
Miscellaneous Rules
1. The provisions of this Convention shall not be construed to restrict in any manner any exemption, allowance, credit or other deduction accorded by the laws of a Contracting State in the determination of the tax imposed by that State.
2. For the purposes of paragraph 3 of Article XXII (Consultation) of the General Agreement on Trade in Services, the Contracting States agree that, notwithstanding that paragraph, any dispute between them as to whether a measure falls within the scope of the Convention may be brought before the Council for Trade in Services, as provided by that paragraph, only with the consent of both Contracting States. Any doubt as to the interpretation of this paragraph shall be resolved under paragraph 4 of Article 24 or, failing agreement under that procedure, pursuant to any other procedure agreed to by both Contracting States.
3. Contributions in a year in respect of services rendered in that year paid by, or on behalf of, an individual who is a resident of a Contracting State or who is temporarily present in that State to a pension plan that is recognized for tax purposes in the other Contracting State shall, during a period not exceeding in the aggregate 60 months, be treated in the same way for tax purposes in the first-mentioned State as a contribution paid to a pension plan that is recognized for tax purposes in that first-mentioned State, if
(a) such individual was contributing on a regular basis to the pension plan for a period ending immediately before that individual became a resident of or temporarily present in the first-mentioned State; and
(b) the competent authority of the first-mentioned State agrees that the pension plan generally corresponds to a pension plan recognized for tax purposes by that State.
For the purposes of this paragraph, “pension plan” includes a pension plan created under the social security system in a Contracting State.
VII. FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 29
Entry into Force
1. Each of the Contracting States shall notify the other through diplomatic channels of the completion of the procedures required by law for the bringing into force of the Convention. The Convention shall enter into force on the date of the later of these notifications and its provisions shall thereupon have effect:
(a) in Canada
(i) in respect of tax withheld at the source on amounts paid or credited to non-residents, on or after the first day of January in the calendar year following that in which the Convention enters into force, and
(ii) in respect of other Canadian tax, for taxation years beginning on or after the first day of January in the calendar year following that in which the Convention enters into force; and
(b) in Colombia
(i) in respect of taxes on income that is obtained and amounts paid, deposited, or accounted for as expenses, as of the first day of January of the calendar year immediately following that in which the Convention enters into force,
(ii) in all other cases, as of the date on which the Convention enters into force.
Article 30
Termination
This Convention shall continue in effect indefinitely but either Contracting State may, on or before June 30 of any calendar year after the year of the entry into force, give to the other Contracting State a notice of termination in writing through the diplomatic channel. In such event, the Convention shall cease to have effect:
(a) in Canada
(i) in respect of tax withheld at the source on amounts paid or credited to non-residents, after the end of that calendar year, and
(ii) in respect of other Canadian tax, for taxation years beginning after the end of that calendar year; and
(b) in Colombia
(i) in respect of taxes on income that is obtained and amounts paid, deposited, or accounted for as expenses, as of the first day of January of the calendar year immediately following that in which the notice is given;
(ii) in all other cases, as of the date the notice is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, duly authorized to that effect, have signed this Convention.
DONE in duplicate at Lima, this 21st day of November 2008, in the English, French and Spanish languages, each version being equally authentic.
Lawrence Cannon
Minister of Foreign Affairs
FOR CANADA
Jaime Bermudez
Minister of Foreign Affairs
FOR THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA
SCHEDULE 2
(Section 2)
PROTOCOL
At the time of signing of this Convention between Canada and the Republic of Colombia for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital, the undersigned have agreed upon the following provisions which shall be an integral part of the Convention.
1. It is understood that
(a) With reference to paragraph 3 of Article 5, for the purpose of calculating the time limit referred to therein, the period during which the activities carried out by an enterprise associated with another enterprise within the meaning of Article 9 shall be added to the period during which the activities are carried out by the enterprise with which it is associated, provided that the activities of the two enterprises are identical or substantially similar and are carried on in connection with the same site or project.
(b) With reference to paragraph 3 of Article 5, planning, preparatory work and supervisory activities shall be considered to be associated to a building site or construction or installation project only where such work or activities are performed at the location of the building site or construction or installation project.
(c) For purposes of Article 7, profits are attributed to a permanent establishment under paragraph 2 of Article 7 as if the permanent establishment were a separate enterprise dealing independently from the enterprise of which it is a part. Paragraph 3 of Article 7 sets out the principle that expenses incurred by the enterprise for the purpose of the permanent establishment, wherever incurred, shall be allowed as a deduction in attributing profits to the permanent establishment. In applying that paragraph, deductibility of expenses shall be determined in accordance with the internal legislation of the Contracting State in which the permanent establishment is located, provided that the requirements, conditions, and limitations to which they are subjected, are complied with.
(d) In the case of Colombia, for the purposes of this Convention, the term “ships” includes vessels.
(e) In the case of Colombia, notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 10, when a company resident in Colombia has not paid income tax on the profit distributed to shareholders (socios o accionistas), because of exemptions or because the profit exceeds the maximum non-taxed limit contained in Article 49 and in paragraph 1 of Article 245 of the Tax Statute, the dividend distributed may be taxed in Colombia at a rate of 15 per cent, if the beneficial owner of the dividend is a shareholder (socio o accionista) resident in Canada.
(f) For greater certainty, the term “right” in paragraph 4 of Article 12 includes contractual rights to receive payments in respect of the furnishing of technical assistance, technical services or consulting services.
(g) If, after the signing of the Convention, Colombia concludes with a third state a Convention which provides for provisions in respect of technical assistance, technical services or consulting services that are more favourable than those provided for in Article 12 of the Convention, such provisions shall apply automatically to the Convention, under the same conditions as if such provisions had been set out in the Convention. Such provisions shall apply to this Convention from the date of entry into force of the convention with the third state. The competent authority of Colombia shall inform the competent authority of Canada without delay that the conditions of application of this subparagraph have been fulfilled.
(h) Paragraphs 6 and 7 of Article 13 are included in the Convention in view of Canada’s domestic rules regarding taxpayer migration. At the time of the signature of the Convention, Colombia has no similar domestic rules and, therefore, it is anticipated that these paragraphs will initially only apply in the case of an individual who ceases to be a resident of Canada.
(i) With reference to paragraph 2 of Article 20, it is agreed to have that paragraph apply only in the case of Canada on the understanding that under the domestic law of Colombia, income from a trust retains the legal characterization of the underlying income earned by that trust.
(j) For greater certainty, the seven year time limit referred to in paragraph 3 of Article 24 and paragraph 3 of Article 9 shall only apply if the domestic law of the Contracting State first-mentioned in such paragraphs provides for a longer time period.
IN WITNESS whereof the undersigned, duly authorised thereto, by their respective Governments, have signed this Protocol.
DONE in duplicate at Lima, this 21st day of November 2008, in the English, French and Spanish languages, each version being equally authentic.
Lawrence Cannon
Minister of Foreign Affairs
FOR CANADA
Jaime Bermudez
Minister of Foreign Affairs
FOR THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA
SCHEDULE 2
(Section 3)
SCHEDULE 1
(Section 2)
CONVENTION BETWEEN CANADA AND THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION AND THE PREVENTION OF FISCAL EVASION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME AND ON CAPITAL
Canada and the Hellenic Republic
Desiring to conclude a Convention for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital,
Have agreed as follows:
I. SCOPE OF THE CONVENTION
Article 1
Persons Covered
This Convention shall apply to persons who are residents of one or both of the Contracting States.
Article 2
Taxes Covered
1. This Convention shall apply to taxes on income and on capital imposed on behalf of each Contracting State, irrespective of the manner in which they are levied.
2. There shall be regarded as taxes on income and on capital all taxes imposed on total income, on total capital, or on elements of income or of capital, including taxes on gains from the alienation of movable or immovable property, as well as taxes on capital appreciation.
3. The existing taxes to which the Convention shall apply are, in particular:
(a) in the case of the Hellenic Republic:
(i) the income and capital tax on natural persons;
(ii) the income and capital tax on legal persons;
(hereinafter referred to as “Hellenic tax”); and
(b) in the case of Canada the taxes imposed by the Government of Canada under the Income Tax Act (hereinafter referred to as “Canadian tax”).
4. The Convention shall apply also to any identical or substantially similar taxes which are imposed after the date of signature of the Convention in addition to, or in place of, the existing taxes. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall notify each other of any significant changes which have been made in their respective taxation laws.
II. DEFINITIONS
Article 3
General Definitions
1. For the purposes of this Convention, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) the term “Hellenic Republic” comprises the territory of the Hellenic Republic, including its territorial sea, as well as the part of the sea-bed and its sub-soil under the Mediterranean Sea, over which the Hellenic Republic, in accordance with international law, has sovereign rights for the purpose of exploration, extraction or exploitation of the natural resources of such areas;
(b) the term “Canada” means the territory of Canada, including its land territory, internal waters and territorial sea, and includes the air space above these areas, as well as the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf, as determined by its domestic law, consistent with international law;
(c) the term “person” includes an individual, a trust, a company and any other body of persons;
(d) the term “company” means any body corporate or any entity which is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes;
(e) the terms “enterprise of a Contracting State” and “enterprise of the other Contracting State” mean respectively an enterprise carried on by a resident of a Contracting State and an enterprise carried on by a resident of the other Contracting State;
(f) the terms “a Contracting State” and “the other Contracting State” mean Canada or the Hellenic Republic as the context requires;
(g) the term “national” means:
(i) any individual possessing the nationality of a Contracting State, and
(ii) any legal person, partnership or association deriving its status as such from the laws in force in a Contracting State;
(h) the term “competent authority” means:
(i) in the case of the Hellenic Republic, the Minister of Economy and Finance or the Minister’s authorized representative; and
(ii) in the case of Canada, the Minister of National Revenue or the Minister’s authorized representative;
(i) the term “international traffic” means any transport by a ship or aircraft, except when the ship or aircraft is operated solely between places in a Contracting State.
2. As regards the application of the Convention at any time by a Contracting State, any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning that it has at that time under the law of that State for the purposes of the taxes to which the Convention applies, any meaning under the applicable tax laws of that State prevailing over a meaning given to the term under other laws of that State.
Article 4
Resident
1. For the purposes of this Convention, the term “resident of a Contracting State” means:
(a) any person who, under the laws of that State, is liable to tax therein by reason of the person’s domicile, residence, place of management or any other criterion of a similar nature; and
(b) that State or a political subdivision or local authority thereof or any agency or instrumentality of that State, subdivision or authority.
However, this term does not include any person who is liable to tax in that State in respect only of income from sources in that State.
2. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph l an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then the individual’s status shall be determined as follows:
(a) the individual shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State in which the individual has a permanent home available and if the individual has a permanent home available in both States, the individual shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State with which the individual’s personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests);
(b) if the State in which the individual’s centre of vital interests is situated cannot be determined, or if there is not a permanent home available to the individual in either State, the individual shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State in which the individual has an habitual abode;
(c) if the individual has an habitual abode in both States or in neither of them, the individual shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State of which the individual is a national; and
(d) if the individual is a national of both States or of neither of them, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall settle the question by mutual agreement.
3. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph l a company is a resident of both Contracting States, then its status shall be determined as follows:
(a) it shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State of which it is a national; or
(b) if it is a national of neither of the States, it shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State in which its place of effective management is situated.
4. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph l a person other than an individual or a company is a resident of both Contracting States, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall by mutual agreement endeavour to settle the question and to determine the mode of application of the Convention to such person. In the absence of such agreement, such person shall not be entitled to claim any relief or exemption from tax provided by the Convention.
Article 5
Permanent Establishment
1. For the purposes of this Convention, the term “permanent establishment” means a fixed place of business through which the business of an enterprise is wholly or partly carried on.
2. The term “permanent establishment” includes especially:
(a) a place of management;
(b) a branch;
(c) an office;
(d) a factory;
(e) a workshop; and
(f) a mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry or any other place relating to the exploration for or the exploitation of natural resources.
3. A building site or construction or installation project constitutes a permanent establishment only if it lasts more than nine months.
4. The term “permanent establishment” also includes the furnishing of services, including technical assistance and consultancy services, by an enterprise through employees or other personnel engaged by the enterprise for such purpose, where the activities of that nature continue for a period or periods amounting to or exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in any twelve month period.
5. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, the term “permanent establishment” shall be deemed not to include:
(a) the use of facilities solely for the purpose of storage, display or delivery of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise;
(b) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of storage, display or delivery;
(c) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of processing by another enterprise;
(d) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of purchasing goods or merchandise or of collecting information, for the enterprise;
(e) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of carrying on, for the enterprise, any other activity of a preparatory or auxiliary character;
(f) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for any combination of activities mentioned in subparagraphs (a) to (e) provided that the overall activity of the fixed place of business resulting from this combination is of a preparatory or auxiliary character.
6. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs l and 2, where a person — other than an agent of an independent status to whom paragraph 9 applies — is acting on behalf of an enterprise and has, and habitually exercises, in a Contracting State an authority to conclude contracts on behalf of the enterprise, that enterprise shall be deemed to have a permanent establishment in that State in respect of any activities which that person undertakes for the enterprise unless the activities of such person are limited to those mentioned in paragraph 5 which, if exercised through a fixed place of business, would not make this fixed place of business a permanent establishment under the provisions of that paragraph.
7. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article and the provisions of Article 14 (Independent Personal Services), a person who is a resident of a Contracting State and carries on activities in connection with preliminary surveys, exploration, extraction or exploitation of natural resources situated in the other Contracting State shall be deemed to be carrying on in respect of those activities a business in that other Contracting State through a permanent establishment or a fixed base situated therein.
8. The provisions of paragraph 7 shall not apply where the activities are carried on for a period or periods not exceeding 120 days in the aggregate in any 12 month period. However for the purpose of this paragraph, activities carried on by an enterprise related to another enterprise within the meaning of Article 9 (Associated Enterprises) shall be regarded as carried on by the enterprise to which it is related if the activities in question are substantially the same as those carried on by the last-mentioned enterprise.
9. An enterprise shall not be deemed to have a permanent establishment in a Contracting State merely because it carries on business in that State through a broker, general commission agent or any other agent of an independent status, provided that such persons are acting in the ordinary course of their business.
10. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, an insurance enterprise of a Contracting State shall, except with regard to reinsurance, be deemed to have a permanent establishment in the other Contracting State if it collects premiums on the territory of the other State or it insures risks situated therein through a person, other than an agent of an independent status to whom paragraph 9 applies.
11. The fact that a company which is a resident of a Contracting State controls or is controlled by a company which is a resident of the other Contracting State, or which carries on business in that other State (whether through a permanent establishment or otherwise), shall not of itself constitute either company a permanent establishment of the other.
III. TAXATION OF INCOME
Article 6
Income from Immovable Property
1. Income derived by a resident of a Contracting State from immovable property (including income from agriculture or forestry) situated in the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. For the purposes of this Convention, the term “immovable property” shall have the meaning which it has for the purposes of the relevant tax law of the Contracting State in which the property in question is situated. The term shall in any case include property accessory to immovable property, livestock and equipment used in agriculture and forestry, rights to which the provisions of general law respecting landed property apply, usufruct of immovable property and rights to variable or fixed payments as consideration for the working of, or the right to work, mineral deposits, sources and other natural resources. Ships and aircraft shall not be regarded as immovable property.
3. The provisions of paragraph l shall apply to income derived from the direct use, letting, or use in any other form of immovable property and, in the case of Canada, shall also apply to income from the alienation of such property.
4. The provisions of paragraphs l and 3 shall also apply to the income from immovable property of an enterprise and to income from immovable property used for the performance of independent personal services.
Article 7
Business Profits
1. The profits of an enterprise of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State unless the enterprise carries on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein. If the enterprise carries on or has carried on business as aforesaid, the profits of the enterprise may be taxed in the other State but only so much of them as is attributable to that permanent establishment.
2. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 3, where an enterprise of a Contracting State carries on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein, there shall in each Contracting State be attributed to that permanent establishment the profits which it might be expected to make if it were a distinct and separate enterprise engaged in the same or similar activities under the same or similar conditions and dealing wholly independently with the enterprise of which it is a permanent establishment.
3. In determining the profits of a permanent establishment, there shall be allowed those deductible expenses which are incurred for the purposes of the permanent establishment including executive and general administrative expenses so incurred, whether in the State in which the permanent establishment is situated or elsewhere.
4. No profits shall be attributed to a permanent establishment by reason of the mere purchase by that permanent establishment of goods or merchandise for the enterprise.
5. For the purposes of the preceding paragraphs, the profits to be attributed to the permanent establishment shall be determined by the same method year by year unless there is good and sufficient reason to the contrary.
6. Where profits include items of income which are dealt with separately in other Articles of this Convention, then the provisions of those Articles shall not be affected by the provisions of this Article.
Article 8
International Shipping and Air Transport
1. Profits derived from the operation of ships in international traffic shall be taxable only in the Contracting State in which the ships are registered or by which they are documented.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, profits derived by an enterprise of a Contracting State from the operation of ships engaged in international traffic may also be taxed in that State.
3. Profits derived by an enterprise of a Contracting State from the operation of aircraft in international traffic shall be taxable only in that State.
4. The provisions of paragraphs l, 2, and 3 shall also apply to profits from the participation in a pool, a joint business or an international operating agency.
Article 9
Associated Enterprises
1. Where
(a) an enterprise of a Contracting State participates directly or indirectly in the management, control or capital of an enterprise of the other Contracting State, or
(b) the same persons participate directly or indirectly in the management, control or capital of an enterprise of a Contracting State and an enterprise of the other Contracting State,
and in either case conditions are made or imposed between the two enterprises in their commercial or financial relations that differ from those that would be made between independent enterprises, then any profits that would, but for those conditions, have accrued to one of the enterprises, but, by reason of those conditions, have not so accrued, may be included in the profits of that enterprise and taxed accordingly.
2. Where a Contracting State includes in the profits of an enterprise of that State — and taxes accordingly — profits on which an enterprise of the other Contracting State has been charged to tax in that other State and the profits so included are profits that would have accrued to the enterprise of the first-mentioned State if the conditions made between the two enterprises had been those that would have been made between independent enterprises, then that other State shall make an appropriate adjustment to the amount of the tax charged therein on those profits. In determining such adjustment, due regard shall be had to the other provisions of this Convention and the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall if necessary consult each other.
3. A Contracting State shall not change the income of an enterprise in the circumstances referred to in paragraphs l and 2 after the expiry of the time limits provided in its national laws and, in any case, after five years from the end of the year in which the income that would be subject to such change would have accrued to an enterprise of that State.
4. The provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not apply in the case of fraud, wilful default or neglect.
Article 10
Dividends
1. Dividends paid by a company that is a resident of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. However, such dividends may also be taxed in the Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident and according to the laws of that State, but if the beneficial owner of the dividends is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed:
(a) 5 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends if the beneficial owner is a company that holds directly or indirectly at least 25 per cent of the capital of the company paying the dividends; and
(b) 15 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends, in all other cases.
The provisions of this paragraph shall not affect the taxation of the company in respect of the profits out of which the dividends are paid.
3. The term “dividends” as used in this Article means income from shares, “jouissance” shares or “jouissance” rights, mining shares, founders’ shares or other rights, not being debt claims, participating in profits, as well as income which is subjected to the same taxation treatment as income from shares by the laws of the State of which the company making the distribution is a resident.
4. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the dividends, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident, through a permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein, and the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment or fixed base. In such case the provisions of Article 7 or Article 14, as the case may be, shall apply.
5. Where a company that is a resident of a Contracting State derives profits or income from the other Contracting State, that other State may not impose any tax on the dividends paid by the company, except insofar as such dividends are paid to a resident of that other State or insofar as the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with a permanent establishment or a fixed base situated in that other State, nor subject the company’s undistributed profits to a tax on undistributed profits, even if the dividends paid or the undistributed profits consist wholly or partly of profits or income arising in such other State.
6. Nothing in this Convention shall be construed as preventing a Contracting State from imposing on the alienation of immovable property situated in that State by a company carrying on a trade in immovable property or on the earnings of a company attributable to a permanent establishment in that State, a tax in addition to the tax that would be chargeable on the earnings of a company that is a national of that State, except that any additional tax so imposed shall not exceed 5 per cent of the amount of such earnings that have not been subjected to such additional tax in previous taxation years. For the purpose of this provision, the term “earnings” means the earnings attributable to the alienation of such immovable property situated in a Contracting State as may be taxed by that State under the provisions of Article 6 or of paragraph 1 of Article 13, and the profits, including any gains, attributable to a permanent establishment in a Contracting State in a year and previous years after deducting therefrom all taxes, other than the additional tax referred to herein, imposed on such profits by that State.
Article 11
Interest
1. Interest arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. However, subject to paragraph 8, such interest may also be taxed in the Contracting State in which it arises and according to the laws of that State, but if the beneficial owner of the interest is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed 10 per cent of the gross amount of the interest.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2:
(a) interest arising in a Contracting State shall be exempt from tax in that State if the interest is beneficially owned by the other Contracting State or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof or the Central Bank of that State;
(b) interest arising in the Hellenic Republic and paid to a resident of Canada shall be taxable only in Canada if it is paid in respect of a loan made, guaranteed or insured, or a credit extended, guaranteed or insured by Export Development Canada;
(c) interest arising in Canada and paid to a resident of the Hellenic Republic shall be taxable only in the Hellenic Republic if it is paid in respect of a loan made, guaranteed or insured, or a credit extended, guaranteed or insured by the Hellenic Export Credit Insurance Organization.
4. The term “interest” as used in this Article means income from debt claims of every kind, whether or not secured by mortgage, and in particular, income from government securities and income from bonds or debentures, including premiums and prizes attaching to such securities, bonds or debentures, as well as income which is subjected to the same taxation treatment as income from money lent by the laws of the State in which the income arises. However, the term “interest” does not include income dealt with in Article 10.
5. The provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the interest, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State in which the interest arises through a permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein, and the debt claim in respect of which the interest is paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment or fixed base. In such case the provisions of Article 7 or Article l4, as the case may be, shall apply.
6. Interest shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the payer is a resident of that State. Where, however, the person paying the interest, whether the payer is a resident of a Contracting State or not, has in a Contracting State a permanent establishment or a fixed base in connection with which the indebtedness on which the interest is paid was incurred, and such interest is borne by such permanent establishment or fixed base, then such interest shall be deemed to arise in the State in which the permanent establishment or fixed base is situated.
7. Where, by reason of a special relationship between the payer and the beneficial owner or between both of them and some other person, the amount of the interest, having regard to the debt claim for which it is paid, exceeds the amount that would have been agreed upon by the payer and the beneficial owner in the absence of such relationship, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to the last-mentioned amount. In such case, the excess part of the payments shall remain taxable according to the laws of each Contracting State, due regard being had to the other provisions of this Convention.
8. The limitation provided in paragraph 2 shall not apply if the debt-claim in respect of which the interest is paid was created or acquired mainly for the purpose of taking advantage of this Article and not for bona fide commercial reasons. In that case, such interest may be taxed in the Contracting State in which it arises and according to laws of that State.
Article 12
Royalties
1. Royalties arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. However, subject to paragraph 8, such royalties may also be taxed in the Contracting State in which they arise and according to the laws of that State, but if the beneficial owner of the royalties is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed 10 per cent of the gross amount of the royalties.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, copyright royalties and other like payments in respect of the production or reproduction of any cultural or artistic work (but not including royalties in respect of motion picture films nor royalties in respect of works on film or videotape or other means of reproduction for use in connection with television broadcasting) arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State who is the beneficial owner of the royalties shall be taxable only in that other State.
4. The term “royalties” as used in this Article means payments of any kind received as a consideration for the use of, or the right to use, any software, copyright of cultural, artistic or scientific work including motion picture films and works on films, tapes or other means of reproduction for television or radio broadcasting, any patent, trade mark, design or model, plan, secret formula or process, or for the use of, or the right to use, industrial, commercial or scientific equipment, or for information concerning industrial, commercial or scientific experience.
5. The provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the royalties, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State in which the royalties arise through a permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein, and the right or property in respect of which the royalties are paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment or fixed base. In such case the provisions of Article 7 or Article l4, as the case may be, shall apply.
6. Royalties shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the payer is a resident of that State. Where, however, the person paying the royalties, whether the payer is a resident of a Contracting State or not, has in a Contracting State a permanent establishment or a fixed base in connection with which the obligation to pay the royalties was incurred, and such royalties are borne by such permanent establishment or fixed base, then such royalties shall be deemed to arise in the State in which the permanent establishment or fixed base is situated.
7. Where, by reason of a special relationship between the payer and the beneficial owner or between both of them and some other person, the amount of the royalties, having regard to the use, right or information for which they are paid, exceeds the amount that would have been agreed upon by the payer and the beneficial owner in the absence of such relationship, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to the last-mentioned amount. In such case, the excess part of the payments shall remain taxable according to the laws of each Contracting State, due regard being had to the other provisions of this Convention.
8. The limitation provided in paragraph 2 shall not apply if the right or the property giving rise to the royalties was created or acquired mainly for the purpose of taking advantage of this Article and not for bona fide commercial reasons. In that case, such royalties may be taxed in the Contracting State in which they arise and according to the laws of that State.
Article 13
Capital Gains
1. Gains derived by a resident of a Contracting State from the alienation of immovable property situated in the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. Gains from the alienation of movable property forming part of the business property of a permanent establishment that an enterprise of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State or of movable property pertaining to a fixed base available to a resident of a Contracting State in the other Contracting State for the purpose of performing independent personal services, including such gains from the alienation of such a permanent establishment (alone or with the whole enterprise) or of such a fixed base, may be taxed in that other State.
3. Gains from the alienation of ships or aircraft operated in international traffic or from movable property pertaining to the operation of such ships or aircraft shall be taxable in the Contracting State or Contracting States in which the profits from the operation of such ships or aircraft are taxable according to the provisions of Article 8.
4. Gains derived by a resident of a Contracting State from the alienation of:
(a) shares (other than shares listed on an approved stock exchange in the other Contracting State) of a company the value of which shares is derived principally from immovable property situated in that other State, or
(b) a substantial interest in a partnership or trust, the value of which is derived principally from immovable property situated in that other State,
may be taxed in that other State. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “immovable property” includes the shares of a company referred to in subparagraph (a) or an interest in a partnership or trust referred to in subparagraph (b) but does not include any property, other than rental property, in which the business of the company, partnership or trust is carried on.
5. Gains from the alienation of any property, other than that referred to in paragraphs l, 2, 3 and 4, shall be taxable only in the Contracting State of which the alienator is a resident.
6. Where an individual who ceases to be a resident of a Contracting State, and immediately thereafter becomes a resident of the other Contracting State, is treated for the purposes of taxation in the first-mentioned State as having alienated a property and is taxed in that State by reason thereof, the individual may elect to be treated for the purposes of taxation in the other State as if the individual had, immediately before becoming a resident of that State, sold and repurchased the property for an amount equal to its fair market value at that time.
Article 14
Independent Personal Services
1. Income derived by an individual who is a resident of a Contracting State in respect of professional or other activities of an independent character shall be taxable only in that State unless the individual has a fixed base regularly available in the other Contracting State for the purpose of performing the services. If the individual has or had such a fixed base, the income may be taxed in the other State but only so much of it as is attributable to that fixed base. For the purposes of this Article, when an individual is present in that other State for the purpose of performing such services for a period or periods exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in any twelve-month period commencing or ending in the fiscal year concerned, the individual shall be deemed to have a fixed base regularly available in that other State and the income derived from the services that are performed in that other State shall be deemed to be attributable to that fixed base.
2. The term “professional services” includes especially independent scientific, literary, artistic, educational or teaching activities as well as the independent activities of physicians, lawyers, engineers, architects, dentists and accountants.
Article 15
Dependent Personal Services
1. Subject to the provisions of Articles 16, 18 and 19, salaries, wages and other remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment shall be taxable only in that State unless the employment is exercised in the other Contracting State. If the employment is so exercised, such remuneration as is derived therefrom may be taxed in that other State.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, salaries, wages and other remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment exercised in the other Contracting State shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned State if:
(a) the recipient is present in the other State for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in any twelve month period commencing or ending in the calendar year concerned; and
(b) the remuneration is paid by, or on behalf of, an employer who is not a resident of the other State; and
(c) the remuneration is not borne by a permanent establishment or a fixed base that the employer has in the other State.
3. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, salaries, wages and other remuneration derived in respect of an employment exercised aboard a ship or aircraft operated in international traffic may be taxed in the Contracting State in which the profits from the operation of the ship or aircraft are taxable according to the provisions of Article 8.
Article 16
Directors’ Fees
1. Directors’ fees and other similar payments derived by a resident of a Contracting State in that resident’s capacity as a member of the board of directors of a company which is a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. Remuneration derived by a partner who acts in the capacity of a manager of a Hellenic limited liability company or a Hellenic partnership may be taxed in the Hellenic Republic.
Article 17
Entertainers and Sportspersons
1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 14 and 15, income derived by a resident of a Contracting State as an entertainer, such as a theatre, motion picture, radio or television artiste, or a musician, or as a sportsperson, from that resident’s personal activities as such exercised in the other Contracting State, may be taxed in that other State.
2. Where income in respect of personal activities exercised by an entertainer or a sportsperson in that individual’s capacity as such accrues not to the entertainer or sportsperson personally but to another person, that income may, notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 7, 14 and 15, be taxed in the Contracting State in which the activities of the entertainer or sportsperson are exercised.
3. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall not apply if it is established that neither the entertainer or the sportsperson nor persons related thereto, participate directly or indirectly in the profits of the person referred to in that paragraph.
4. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to income derived from activities performed in a Contracting State by a resident of the other Contracting State which is a non-profit organization or an entertainer or sportsperson, if the visit to the first-mentioned Contracting State is substantially supported by public funds and the activities are not performed for the purpose of profit.
Article 18
Pensions and Annuities
1. Pensions and annuities arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. Pensions arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may also be taxed in the State in which they arise and according to the law of that State, but of the total amount of such pensions paid in any calendar year to a resident of the other Contracting State, the first-mentioned Contracting State shall exempt from tax fifteen thousand Canadian dollars or the equivalent amount in euros. However, in the case of periodic pension payments, the tax so charged shall not exceed the lesser of:
(a) 15 per cent of the gross amount of the total of such payments in the calendar year concerned in excess of fifteen thousand Canadian dollars or its equivalent in euros; and
(b) the rate determined by reference to the amount of tax that the recipient of the payment would otherwise be required to pay for the year on the total amount of the periodic pension payments received by the individual in the year, if the individual were a resident of the Contracting State in which the payment arises.
The competent authorities of the Contracting States may, if necessary, agree to modify the above-mentioned amount as a result of monetary or economic developments.
3. Annuities arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may also be taxed in the State in which they arise, and according to the law of that State; but the tax so charged shall not exceed 15 per cent of the portion thereof that is subject to tax in that State. However, this limitation does not apply to lump-sum payments arising on the surrender, cancellation, redemption, sale or other alienation of an annuity, or to payments of any kind under an annuity contract the cost of which was deductible, in whole or in part, in computing the income of any person who acquired the contract.
4. Notwithstanding anything in this Convention:
(a) war pensions and allowances (including pensions and allowances paid to war veterans or paid as a consequence of damages or injuries suffered as a consequence of a war) arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State shall be exempt from tax in that other State to the extent that they would be exempt from tax if received by a resident of the first-mentioned State;
(b) alimony and other similar payments arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State who is subject to tax therein in respect thereof shall be taxable only in that other State but the amount taxable in that other State shall not exceed the amount that would be taxable in the first-mentioned State if the recipient were a resident thereof.
Article 19
Government Service
1. (a) Salaries, wages and other similar remuneration, other than a pension, paid by a Contracting State or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof to an individual in respect of services rendered to that State or subdivision or authority shall be taxable only in that State.
(b) However, such salaries, wages and other similar remuneration shall be taxable only in the other Contracting State if the services are rendered in that State and the individual is a resident of that State who:
(i) is a national of that State, or
(ii) did not become a resident of that State solely for the purpose of rendering the services.
2. The provisions of Articles 15, 16 and 17, as the case may be, shall apply instead of the provisions of paragraph 1 in the case of salaries, wages and other similar remuneration in respect of services rendered in connection with a business carried on by a Contracting State or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof.
Article 20
Students
Payments which a student or business apprentice who is, or was immediately before visiting a Contracting State, a resident of the other Contracting State and who is present in the first-mentioned State solely for the purpose of that individual’s education or training receives for the purpose of that individual’s maintenance, education or training shall not be taxed in that State, if such payments arise from sources outside that State.
Article 21
Other Income
1. Items of income of a resident of a Contracting State, wherever arising, not dealt with in the foregoing Articles of this Convention shall be taxable only in that State.
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply to income, other than income from immovable property, if the recipient of such income, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein, and the right or property in respect of which the income is paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment or fixed base. In such case the provisions of Article 7 or Article 14, as the case may be, shall apply.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, items of income of a resident of a Contracting State not dealt with in the foregoing Articles of the Convention and arising in the other Contracting State may also be taxed in that other State, and according to the law of that State. Where such income is income from a trust, other than a trust to which contributions were deductible, the tax so charged shall, if the income is taxable in the Contracting State in which the beneficial owner is a resident, not exceed 15 per cent of the gross amount of the income.
IV. TAXATION OF CAPITAL
Article 22
Capital
1. Capital represented by immovable property owned by a resident of a Contracting State and situated in the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. Capital represented by movable property forming part of the business property of a permanent establishment that an enterprise of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State, or by movable property pertaining to a fixed base available to a resident of a Contracting State in the other Contracting State for the purpose of performing independent personal services, may be taxed in that other State.
3. Capital represented by ships or aircraft operated in international traffic and by movable property pertaining to the operation of such ships or aircraft, shall be taxable only in the Contracting State in which the profits from the operation of such ships or aircraft are taxable according to the provisions of Article 8.
4. All other elements of capital of a resident of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State.
V. METHODS FOR ELIMINATION OF DOUBLE TAXATION
Article 23
Elimination of Double Taxation
1. In the case of the Hellenic Republic, double taxation shall be avoided as follows:
(a) where a resident of the Hellenic Republic derives income or owns capital which, in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, may be taxed in Canada, the Hellenic Republic shall allow:
(i) as a deduction from the tax on the income of that resident, an amount equal to the income tax paid in Canada,
(ii) as a deduction from the tax on the capital of that resident, an amount equal to the capital tax paid in Canada;
(b) subject to the existing provisions of the law of the Hellenic Republic regarding the allowance as a credit against Hellenic Republic tax of tax payable in a territory outside the Hellenic Republic and to any subsequent modification of those provisions — which shall not affect the general principle hereof — where a company which is a resident of Canada pays a dividend to a company which is a resident of the Hellenic Republic and which controls directly or indirectly at least 10 per cent of the voting power in the first-mentioned company, the credit shall take into account the tax payable in Canada by that first-mentioned company in respect of the profits out of which such dividend is paid; and
(c) such deduction in either case shall not, however, exceed that part of the income tax or capital tax, as computed before the deduction is given, which is attributable, as the case may be, to the income or the capital that may be taxed in Canada.
2. In the case of Canada, double taxation shall be avoided as follows:
(a) subject to the existing provisions of the law of Canada regarding the deduction from tax payable in Canada of tax paid in a territory outside Canada and to any subsequent modification of those provisions — which shall not affect the general principle hereof — and unless a greater deduction or relief is provided under the laws of Canada, tax payable in the Hellenic Republic on profits, income or gains arising in the Hellenic Republic shall be deducted from any Canadian tax payable in respect of such profits, income or gains;
(b) subject to the existing provisions of the law of Canada regarding the allowance as a credit against Canadian tax of tax payable in a territory outside Canada and to any subsequent modification of those provisions — which shall not affect the general principle hereof — where a company which is a resident of the Hellenic Republic pays a dividend to a company which is a resident of Canada and which controls directly or indirectly at least 10 per cent of the voting power in the first-mentioned company, the credit shall take into account the tax payable in the Hellenic Republic by that first-mentioned company in respect of the profits out of which such dividend is paid; and
(c) where, in accordance with any provision of the Convention, income derived or capital owned by a resident of Canada is exempt from tax in Canada, Canada may nevertheless, in calculating the amount of tax on other income or capital, take into account the exempted income or capital.
3. For the purposes of this Article, profits, income or gains of a resident of a Contracting State that may be taxed in the other Contracting State in accordance with this Convention shall be deemed to arise from sources in that other State.
VI. SPECIAL PROVISIONS
Article 24
Non-Discrimination
1. Nationals of a Contracting State shall not be subjected in the other Contracting State to any taxation or any requirement connected therewith that is other or more burdensome than the taxation and connected requirements to which nationals of that other State in the same circumstances, in particular with respect to residence, are or may be subjected. This provision shall, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 1, also apply to individuals who are not residents of one or both of the Contracting States.
2. The taxation on a permanent establishment that an enterprise of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State shall not be less favourably levied in that other State than the taxation levied on enterprises of that other State carrying on the same activities. This provision shall not be construed as obliging a Contracting State to grant to residents of the other Contracting State any personal allowances, reliefs and reductions for taxation purposes on account of civil status or family responsibilities that it grants to its own residents.
3. Enterprises of a Contracting State, the capital of which is wholly or partly owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by one or more residents of the other Contracting State, shall not be subjected in the first-mentioned State to any taxation or any requirement connected therewith that is other or more burdensome than the taxation and connected requirements to which other similar enterprises that are residents of the first-mentioned State, the capital of which is wholly or partly owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by one or more residents of a third State, are or may be subjected.
4. In this Article, the term “taxation” means taxes that are the subject of this Convention.
Article 25
Mutual Agreement Procedure
1. Where a person considers that the actions of one or both of the Contracting States result or will result for that person in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, that person may, irrespective of the remedies provided by the domestic law of those States, present the case in writing to the competent authority of the Contracting State of which that person is a resident or, if the case comes under paragraph 1 of Article 24, to that of the Contracting State of which that person is a national. The case must be presented within three years from the first notification of the action resulting in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of the Convention.
2. The competent authority shall endeavour, if the objection appears to it to be justified and if it is not itself able to arrive at a satisfactory solution, to resolve the case by mutual agreement with the competent authority of the other Contracting State, with a view to the avoidance of taxation not in accordance with the Convention. Any agreement reached shall be implemented notwithstanding any time limits in the domestic law of the Contracting States.
3. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall endeavour to resolve by mutual agreement any difficulties or doubts arising as to the interpretation or application of the Convention. They may also consult together for the elimination of double taxation in cases not provided for in the Convention.
4. The competent authorities of the Contracting States may communicate with each other directly for the purpose of reaching an agreement in the sense of the preceding paragraphs.
5. If any difficulty or doubt arising as to the interpretation or application of the Convention cannot be resolved by the competent authorities it may, if both competent authorities agree, be submitted for arbitration. The procedures for arbitration shall be established between the competent authorities.
Article 26
Exchange of Information
1. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall exchange such information as is foreseeably relevant for carrying out the provisions of this Convention or to the administration or enforcement of the domestic laws concerning taxes of every kind and description imposed on behalf of the Contracting States, insofar as the taxation thereunder is not contrary to the Convention. The exchange of information is not restricted by Articles 1 and 2.
2. Any information received under paragraph 1 by a Contracting State shall be treated as secret in the same manner as information obtained under the domestic laws of that State and shall be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) concerned with the assessment or collection of, the enforcement in respect of, or the determination of appeals in relation to taxes, or the oversight of the above. Such persons or authorities shall use the information only for such purposes. They may disclose the information in public court proceedings or in judicial decisions.
3. In no case shall the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 be construed so as to impose on a Contracting State the obligation:
(a) to carry out administrative measures at variance with the laws and the administrative practice of that or of the other Contracting State;
(b) to supply information that is not obtainable under the laws or in the normal course of the administration of that or of the other Contracting State; or
(c) to supply information that would disclose any trade, business, industrial, commercial or professional secret or trade process, or information, the disclosure of which would be contrary to public policy (ordre public).
4. If information is requested by a Contracting State in accordance with this Article, the other Contracting State shall use its information gathering measures to obtain the requested information, even though the other State does not need such information for its own tax purposes. The obligation contained in the preceding sentence is subject to the limitations of paragraph 3 but in no case shall such limitations be construed to permit a Contracting State to decline to supply information solely because it has no domestic interest in such information.
5. In no case shall the provisions of paragraph 3 be construed to permit a Contracting State to decline to supply information solely because the information is held by a bank, other financial institution, nominee or person acting in an agency or fiduciary capacity or because the information relates to ownership interests in a person.
Article 27
Members of Diplomatic Missions and Consular Posts
1. Nothing in this Convention shall affect the fiscal privileges of members of diplomatic missions or consular posts under the general rules of international law or under the provisions of special agreements.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 4, an individual who is a member of a diplomatic mission, consular post or permanent mission of a Contracting State that is situated in the other Contracting State or in a third State shall be deemed for the purposes of the Convention to be a resident of the sending State if that individual is liable in the sending State to the same obligations in relation to tax on total income as are residents of that sending State.
3. The Convention shall not apply to international organizations, to organs or officials thereof and to persons who are members of a diplomatic mission, consular post or permanent mission of a third State or group of States, being present in a Contracting State and who are not liable in either Contracting State to the same obligations in relation to tax on their total income as are residents thereof.
Article 28
Miscellaneous Rules
1. The provisions of this Convention shall not be construed to restrict in any manner any exemption, allowance, credit or other deduction now or hereafter accorded:
(a) by the laws of a Contracting State in the determination of the tax imposed by that State; or
(b) by any other agreement entered into by a Contracting State.
2. Nothing in the Convention shall be construed as preventing Canada from imposing a tax on amounts included in the income of a resident of Canada with respect to a partnership, trust, company, or other entity in which that resident has an interest.
3. Contributions in a year in respect of services rendered in that year paid by, or on behalf of, an individual who is a resident of a Contracting State or who is temporarily present in that State to a pension plan that is recognized for tax purposes in the other Contracting State shall, during a period not exceeding in the aggregate 60 months, be treated in the same way for tax purposes in the first-mentioned State as a contribution paid to a pension plan that is recognized for tax purposes in that first-mentioned State, if
(a) such individual was contributing on a regular basis to the pension plan for a period ending immediately before that individual became a resident of or temporarily present in the first-mentioned State; and
(b) the competent authority of the first-mentioned State agrees that the pension plan generally corresponds to a pension plan recognized for tax purposes by that State.
For the purposes of this paragraph, “pension plan” includes a pension plan created under the social security system in a Contracting State.
VII. FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 29
Entry into Force
1. Each of the Contracting States shall notify the other through diplomatic channels of the completion of the procedures required by law for the bringing into force of this Convention. The Convention shall enter into force on the date of the later of these notifications and its provisions shall thereupon have effect:
(a) in the Hellenic Republic, on income derived on or after the first day of January of the calendar year next following that in which the Convention enters into force;
(b) in Canada
(i) in respect of tax withheld at the source on amounts paid or credited to non-residents, on or after the first day of January of the calendar year next following that in which the Convention enters into force, and
(ii) in respect of other Canadian tax for taxation years beginning on or after the first day of January of the calendar year next following that in which the Convention enters into force.
2. The exchange of notes dated September 30, 1929 recording an Agreement between Canada and the Hellenic Republic providing for the reciprocal exemption from income tax of earnings derived from the operation of ships is terminated. Its provisions shall cease to have effect from the date on which the corresponding provisions of this Convention take effect in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1.
Article 30
Termination
This Convention shall remain in force until terminated by a Contracting State. Either Contracting State may terminate the Convention, through diplomatic channels, by giving notice of termination at least six months before the end of any calendar year. In such event, the Convention shall cease to have effect:
(a) in the Hellenic Republic, on income derived on or after the first day of January of the next following calendar year;
(b) in Canada
(i) in respect of tax withheld at the source on amounts paid or credited to non-residents, on or after the first day of January of the next following calendar year, and
(ii) in respect of other Canadian tax for taxation years beginning on or after the first day of January of the next following calendar year.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, duly authorised thereto, have signed this Convention.
DONE in duplicate at Athens, this 29th day of June 2009, each in the English, French and Greek languages, each version being equally authentic.
Lawrence Cannon
Minister of Foreign Affairs
FOR CANADA
Dora Bakoyannis
Minister of Foreign Affairs
FOR THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC
SCHEDULE 2
(Section 2)
PROTOCOL
1. At the time of signing of this Convention between Canada and the Hellenic Republic for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital, the undersigned have agreed upon the following provisions which shall be an integral part of the Convention.
2. It is understood that:
(i) In paragraph 1(i) of Article 3, for greater certainty, the term “operated solely between places in a Contracting State” refers to a single voyage undertaken by a ship or aircraft.
(ii) Notwithstanding Articles 7 and 8, profits derived from the operation of ships or aircraft used principally to transport passengers or goods exclusively between places in a Contracting State may be taxed in that State. This provision shall also apply to profits from the participation in a pool, a joint business or an international operating agency.
(iii) With respect to paragraph 6 of Article 13, in the event that the Canadian departure tax rules, for which that paragraph is relevant, are significantly amended or replaced, paragraph 6 of Article 13 shall be replaced by the following:
“6. The provisions of paragraph 5 shall not affect the right of a Contracting State to levy, according to its law, a tax on gains from the alienation of any property derived by an individual who is a resident of the other Contracting State and has been a resident of the first-mentioned State at any time during the five years immediately preceding the alienation of the property.”
(iv) For the purposes of Article 15, the term “employer” means the person having rights on the work produced and bearing the relative responsibility and risks.
(v) The Convention shall not apply to any company, trust or other entity that is a resident of a Contracting State and is beneficially owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by one or more persons who are not residents of that State, if the amount of the tax imposed on the income or capital of the company, trust or other entity by that State is substantially lower than the amount that would be imposed by that State (after taking into account any reduction or offset of the amount of tax in any manner, including a refund, reimbursement, contribution, credit, or allowance to the company, trust or other entity, or to any other person) if all of the shares of the capital stock of the company or all of the interests in the trust or other entity, as the case may be, were beneficially owned by one or more individuals who were residents of that State.
(vi) Irrespective of the participation of the Contracting States in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), or in other international agreements, the Contracting States in their tax relations shall be covered by the provisions of this Convention.
IN WITNESS whereof the undersigned, duly authorised thereto, by their respective Governments, have signed this Protocol.
DONE in duplicate at Athens, this 29th day of June 2009, each in the English, French and Greek languages, each version being equally authentic.
Lawrence Cannon
Minister of Foreign Affairs
FOR CANADA
Dora Bakoyannis
Minister of Foreign Affairs
FOR THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC
SCHEDULE 3
(Section 4)
SCHEDULE 1
(Section 2)
AGREEMENT BETWEEN CANADA AND THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION AND THE PREVENTION OF FISCAL EVASION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME AND ON CAPITAL
Canada and the Republic of Turkey,
Desiring to conclude an Agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital,
Have agreed as follows:
I. SCOPE OF THE CONVENTION
Article 1
Persons Covered
This Agreement shall apply to persons who are residents of one or both of the Contracting States.
Article 2
Taxes Covered
1. This Agreement shall apply to taxes on income and on capital imposed on behalf of each Contracting State irrespective of the manner in which they are levied.
2. There shall be regarded as taxes on income and on capital all taxes imposed on total income, on total capital, or on elements of income or of capital, including taxes on gains from the alienation of movable or immovable property, as well as taxes on capital appreciation.
3. The existing taxes to which the Agreement shall apply are, in particular:
(a) in the case of Canada, the taxes imposed by the Government of Canada under the Income Tax Act (hereinafter referred to as “Canadian tax”);
(b) in the case of Turkey:
(i) the income tax (Gelir Vergisi);
(ii) the corporation tax (Kurumlar Vergisi); and
(iii) the levy imposed on the income tax and the corporation tax;
(hereinafter referred to as “Turkish tax”).
4. The Agreement shall apply also to any substantially similar taxes and to taxes on capital which are imposed after the date of signature of the Agreement in addition to, or in place of, the existing taxes. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall notify each other of substantial changes which have been made in their respective taxation laws.
II. DEFINITIONS
Article 3
General Definitions
1. For the purposes of this Agreement, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) the term “Canada” means the territory of Canada, including its land territory, internal waters and territorial sea, and includes the air space above these areas, as well as the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf, as determined by its domestic law, consistent with international law;
(b) the term “Turkey” means the Turkish territory, territorial sea, as well as the maritime areas over which it has jurisdiction or sovereign rights for the purposes of exploration, exploitation and conservation of natural resources, pursuant to international law;
(c) the terms “a Contracting State” and “the other Contracting State” mean Turkey or Canada as the context requires;
(d) the term “person” includes an individual, an estate, a trust, a company and any other body of persons;
(e) the term “company” means any body corporate or any entity which is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes;
(f) the terms “enterprise of a Contracting State” and “enterprise of the other Contracting State” mean respectively an enterprise carried on by a resident of a Contracting State and an enterprise carried on by a resident of the other Contracting State;
(g) the term “competent authority” means:
(i) in Canada, the Minister of National Revenue or the Minister’s authorized representative;
(ii) in Turkey, the Minister of Finance or the Minister’s authorized representative;
(h) the term “tax” means any tax covered by Article 2;
(i) the term “international traffic” means any transport by a ship or aircraft operated by an enterprise of a Contracting State, except when the ship or aircraft is operated solely between places situated in the territory of the other Contracting State;
(j) the term “national” means:
(i) any individual possessing the nationality of a Contracting State;
(ii) any legal person, partnership and association deriving its status as such from the laws in force in a Contracting State.
2. As regards the application of the Agreement by a Contracting State any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning which it has under the laws of that State for the purposes of the taxes to which the Agreement applies.
Article 4
Resident
1. For the purposes of this Agreement, the term “resident of a Contracting State” means any person who, under the laws of that State, is liable to tax therein by reason of the person’s domicile, residence, place of registration, place of management or any other criterion of a similar nature.
2. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1 an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then the individual’s status shall be determined as follows:
(a) the individual shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State in which the individual has a permanent home available; if the individual has a permanent home available in both States, the individual shall be deemed to be resident only of the State with which the individual’s personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests);
(b) if the State in which the individual’s centre of vital interests is situated cannot be determined, or if there is not a permanent home available to the individual in either State, the individual shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State in which the individual has an habitual abode;
(c) if the individual has an habitual abode in both States or in neither of them, the individual shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State of which the individual is a national;
(d) if the individual is a national of both States or of neither of them, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall settle the question by mutual agreement.
3. Where by reason of the provision of paragraph 1 a person other than an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then it shall be deemed to be a resident only of the Contracting State in which it has been incorporated (registered) or, where that person has not been incorporated (registered) in either State, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall by mutual agreement endeavour to settle the question and to determine the mode of application of the Agreement to such person. In the absence of such agreement, such person shall not be entitled to claim any relief or exemption from tax provided by the Agreement.
Article 5
Permanent Establishment
1. For the purposes of this Agreement, the term “permanent establishment” means a fixed place of business through which the business of an enterprise is wholly or partly carried on.
2. The term “permanent establishment” includes especially:
(a) a place of management;
(b) a branch;
(c) an office;
(d) a factory;
(e) a workshop;
(f) a mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry or any other place of extraction of natural resources.
3. The term “permanent establishment” shall also include:
(a) a building site, a construction, assembly or installation project or supervisory activities in connection therewith, but only if such site, project or activities continue for a period of more than six months; and
(b) the furnishing of services, including consulting services, by an enterprise of a Contracting State through employees or other individuals engaged by the enterprise for such purposes in the other Contracting State, but only where such activities continue (for the same or a connected project) within that State for a period or periods aggregating more than 183 days within any twelve month period.
4. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, the term “permanent establishment” shall be deemed not to include:
(a) the use of facilities solely for the purpose of storage, display or delivery of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise;
(b) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of storage, display or delivery;
(c) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of processing by another enterprise;
(d) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of purchasing goods or merchandise or of collecting information, for the enterprise;
(e) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of carrying on, for the enterprise, any other activity of a preparatory or auxiliary character;
(f) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for any combination of activities mentioned in subparagraphs (a) to (e), provided that the overall activity of the fixed place of business resulting from this combination is of a preparatory or auxiliary character.
5. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, where a person — other than an agent of independent status to whom paragraph 6 applies — is acting in a Contracting State on behalf of an enterprise of the other Contracting State, that enterprise shall be deemed to have a permanent establishment in the first-mentioned Contracting State in respect of any activities which that person undertakes for the enterprise, if such a person:
(a) has and habitually exercises in that State an authority to conclude contracts in the name of the enterprise, unless the activities of such person are limited to those mentioned in paragraph 4 which, if exercised through a fixed place of business would not make this fixed place of business a permanent establishment under the provisions of that paragraph; or
(b) has no such authority, but habitually maintains in the first-mentioned State a stock of goods or merchandise from which such person regularly delivers goods or merchandise on behalf of the enterprise.
6. An enterprise shall not be deemed to have a permanent establishment in a Contracting State merely because it carries on business in that State through a broker, general commission agent or any other agent of an independent status, provided that such persons are acting in the ordinary course of their business.
7. The fact that a company which is a resident of a Contracting State controls or is controlled by a company which is a resident of the other Contracting State, or which carries on business in that other State (whether through a permanent establishment or otherwise), shall not of itself constitute either company a permanent establishment of the other.
III. TAXATION OF INCOME
Article 6
Income from Immovable Property
1. Income derived by a resident of a Contracting State from immovable property (including income from agriculture or forestry) situated in the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. The term “immovable property” shall have the meaning which it has under the law of the Contracting State in which the property in question is situated. The term shall in any case include property accessory to immovable property, livestock and equipment used in agriculture and forestry, rights to which the provisions of general law respecting landed property apply, usufruct of immovable property and rights to variable or fixed payments as consideration for the working of, or the right to work, mineral deposits, sources and other natural resources; ships and aircraft shall not be regarded as immovable property.
3. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply to income derived from the direct use, letting, or use in any other form of immovable property.
4. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 3 shall also apply to the income from immovable property of an enterprise and to income from immovable property used for the performance of independent personal services.
Article 7
Business Profits
1. The profits of an enterprise of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State unless the enterprise carries on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein. If the enterprise carries on business as aforesaid, the profits of the enterprise may be taxed in the other State but only so much of them as is attributable to that permanent establishment.
2. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 3, where an enterprise of a Contracting State carries on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein, there shall in each Contracting State be attributed to that permanent establishment the profits which it might be expected to make if it were a distinct and separate enterprise engaged in the same or similar activities under the same or similar conditions and dealing wholly independently with the enterprise of which it is a permanent establishment.
3. In determining the profits of a permanent establishment, there shall be allowed those deductible expenses which are incurred for the purposes of the permanent establishment, including executive and general administrative expenses so incurred, whether in the State in which the permanent establishment is situated or elsewhere. No deductions shall be allowed for sums which are paid (other than the reimbursement of expenses actually incurred) by the permanent establishment to the head office or any other office of the enterprise as royalties, fees or other similar payments in respect of the use of licences, patents or other rights, as commission for services rendered or for management, or, except in the case of a banking enterprise, as interest on sums loaned to the permanent establishment.
4. No profits shall be attributed to a permanent establishment by reason of the mere purchase by that permanent establishment of goods or merchandise for the enterprise.
5. Where profits include items of income which are dealt with separately in other Articles of this Agreement, then the provisions of those Articles shall not be affected by the provisions of this Article.
Article 8
Shipping and Air Transport
1. Profits derived by an enterprise of a Contracting State from the operation of ships or aircraft in international traffic shall be taxable only in that State.
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall also apply to profits referred to in that paragraph derived by an enterprise of a Contracting State from its participation in a pool, a joint business or an international operation agency.
Article 9
Associated Enterprises
1. Where
(a) an enterprise of a Contracting State participates directly or indirectly in the management, control or capital of an enterprise of the other Contracting State, or
(b) the same persons participate directly or indirectly in the management, control or capital of an enterprise of a Contracting State and an enterprise of the other Contracting State,
and in either case conditions are made or imposed between the two enterprises in their commercial or financial relations which differ from those which would be made between independent enterprises, then any profits which would, but for those conditions, have accrued to one of the enterprises, but, by reason of those conditions, have not so accrued, may be included in the profits of that enterprise and taxed accordingly.
2. Where a Contracting State includes in the profits of an enterprise of that State — and taxes accordingly — profits on which an enterprise of the other Contracting State has been charged to tax in that other State and the profits so included are profits which would have accrued to the enterprise of the first-mentioned State if the conditions made between the two enterprises had been those which would have been made between independent enterprises, then that other State shall make an appropriate adjustment to the amount of the tax charged therein on those profits, where that other State considers the adjustment justified. In determining such adjustment, due regard shall be had to the other provisions of this Agreement and the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall if necessary consult each other.
3. A Contracting State shall not change the profits of an enterprise in the circumstances referred to in paragraph 1 after the expiry of the time limits provided in its national laws and, in any case, after five years from the end of the year in which the profits which would be subject to such change would have accrued to an enterprise of that State.
4. The provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not apply in the case of fraud, wilful default or neglect.
Article 10
Dividends
1. Dividends paid by a company which is a resident of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. However, such dividends may also be taxed in the Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident, and according to the laws of that State, but if the beneficial owner of the dividends is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed, as the case may be:
(a) 15 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends if the beneficial owner is a company (other than a partnership) which holds directly shares representing at least 10 per cent of the voting power of the company paying the dividends,
(b) 20 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends in all other cases.
The provisions of this paragraph shall not affect the taxation of the company on the profits out of which the dividends are paid.
3. The term “dividends” as used in this Article means income from shares, “jouissance” shares or “jouissance” rights, founders’ shares or other rights, not being debt-claims, participating in profits, as well as income which is subjected to the same taxation treatment as income from shares by the laws of the State of which the company making the distribution is a resident.
4. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the dividends, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident, through a permanent establishment situated therein, and the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment. In such case the provisions of Article 7 shall apply.
5. Where a company which is a resident of a Contracting State derives profits or income from the other Contracting State, that other State may not impose any tax on the dividends paid by the company, except insofar as such dividends are paid to a resident of that other State or insofar as the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with a permanent establishment or a fixed base situated in that other State, nor subject the company’s undistributed profits to a tax on undistributed profits, even if the dividends paid or the undistributed profits consist wholly or partly of profits or income arising in such other State.
6. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as preventing a Contracting State from imposing on the profits of a company attributable to a permanent establishment in that State, a tax in addition to the tax which would be chargeable on the profits of a company which is a resident and, in the case of Canada, a national of that State, provided that any additional tax so imposed shall not exceed:
(a) in the case of Canada, 15 per cent of the amount of such profits which have not been subjected to such additional tax in previous taxation years and which are attributable to the permanent establishment in a year and previous years after deducting therefrom all taxes, other than the additional tax referred to herein, imposed on such profits by Canada;
(b) in the case of Turkey, 20 per cent of the profits attributable to the permanent establishment situated in Turkey after deducting therefrom the tax which would be chargeable on the profits of a company which is a resident of Turkey.
Article 11
Interest
1. Interest arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. However, such interest may also be taxed in the Contracting State in which it arises, and according to the laws of that State, but if the beneficial owner of the interest is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed 15 per cent of the gross amount of the interest.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, interest arising in:
(a) Canada and paid to the Government of Turkey or to the Central Bank of Turkey (Türkiye Cumhuriyet Merkez Bankası) shall be exempt from Canadian tax;
(b) Turkey and paid to the Government of Canada or to the Bank of Canada shall be exempt from Turkish tax.
4. The term “interest” as used in this Article means income from government securities, bonds or debentures, whether or not secured by mortgage and whether or not carrying a right to participate in profits, and debt-claims of every kind as well as all other income assimilated to income from money lent by the taxation law of the State in which the income arises. However, the term “interest” does not include income dealt with in Article 10.
5. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the interest, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State in which the interest arises, through a permanent establishment situated therein, and the debt-claim in respect of which the interest is paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment. In such case the provisions of Article 7 shall apply.
6. Interest shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the payer is that State itself, a political subdivision, a local authority or a resident of that State. Where, however, the person paying the interest, whether the payer is a resident of a Contracting State or not, has in a Contracting State a permanent establishment or a fixed base in connection with which the indebtedness on which the interest is paid was incurred, and such interest is borne by such permanent establishment or fixed base, then such interest shall be deemed to arise in the Contracting State in which the permanent establishment or fixed base is situated.
7. Where, by reason of a special relationship between the payer and the beneficial owner or between both of them and some other person, the amount of the interest, having regard to the debt-claim for which it is paid, exceeds the amount which would have been agreed upon by the payer and the beneficial owner in the absence of such relationship, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to the last-mentioned amount. In such case, the excess part of the payments shall remain taxable according to the laws of each Contracting State, due regard being had to the other provisions of this Agreement.
Article 12
Royalties
1. Royalties arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. However, such royalties may also be taxed in the Contracting State in which they arise, and according to the laws of that State, but if the beneficial owner of the royalties is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed 10 per cent of the gross amount of the royalties.
3. The term “royalties” as used in this Article means payments of any kind received as a consideration for the use of, the right to use or the sale of, any copyright of literary, artistic or scientific work including cinematograph films and recordings for radio and television, any patent, trade mark, design or model, plan, secret formula or process, or for information concerning, industrial, commercial or scientific experience or for the use of, or the right to use industrial, commercial, or scientific equipment.
4. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the royalties, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State in which the royalties arise, through a permanent establishment situated therein, and the right or property in respect of which the royalties are paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment. In such case the provisions of Article 7 shall apply.
5. Royalties shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the payer is that State itself, a political subdivision, a local authority or a resident of that State. Where, however, the person paying the royalties, whether the payer is a resident of a Contracting State or not, has in a Contracting State a permanent establishment or a fixed base in connection with which the obligation to pay the royalties was incurred, and such royalties are borne by such permanent establishment or fixed base, then such royalties shall be deemed to arise in the State in which the permanent establishment or fixed base is situated.
6. Where, by reason of a special relationship between the payer and the beneficial owner or between both of them and some other person, the amount of the royalties, having regard to the use, right or information for which they are paid, exceeds the amount which would have been agreed upon by the payer and the beneficial owner in the absence of such relationship, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to the last-mentioned amount. In such case, the excess part of the payment shall remain taxable according to the laws of each Contracting State, due regard being had to the other provisions of this Agreement.
Article 13
Capital Gains
1. Gains derived by a resident of a Contracting State from the alienation of immovable property referred to in Article 6 and situated in the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. Gains from the alienation of movable property forming part of the business property of a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State or of movable property pertaining to a fixed base available to a resident of a Contracting State in the other Contracting State for the purpose of performing independent personal services, including such gains from the alienation of such a permanent establishment (alone or with the whole enterprise) or of such a fixed base, may be taxed in that other State.
3. Gains from the alienation of ships or aircraft operated by an enterprise of a Contracting State in international traffic, or movable property pertaining to the operation of such ships or aircraft, shall be taxable only in that State.
4. Gains from the alienation of:
(a) shares of the capital stock of a company the value of which is derived principally from immovable property situated in a Contracting State, and
(b) an interest in a partnership, trust or estate, the value of which is derived principally from immovable property situated in a Contracting State,
may be taxed in that State. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “immovable property” includes the shares of a company referred to in subparagraph (a) or an interest in a partnership, trust or estate referred to in subparagraph (b).
5. Gains from the alienation of any property other than that referred to in paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4 shall be taxable only in the Contracting State of which the alienator is a resident. However, such gains derived from the other Contracting State may also be taxed in that other State provided that the alienation of the property giving rise to the gain occurs not later than one year after the acquisition of that property by the alienator.
6. The provisions of paragraph 5 shall not affect the right of a Contracting State to levy, according to its domestic law, a tax on gains from the alienation of any property (other than a property described in paragraph 7) derived by an individual who is a resident of the other Contracting State and who was resident in the first-mentioned State at any time during the five years immediately preceding the alienation of the property unless the property was never owned by the individual while the individual was a resident of the first-mentioned State.
7. Where an individual who ceases to be a resident of a Contracting State, and immediately thereafter becomes a resident of the other Contracting State, is treated for the purposes of taxation in the first-mentioned State as having alienated a property and is taxed in that State by reason thereof, the individual may elect to be treated for the purposes of taxation in the other State as if the individual had, immediately before becoming a resident of that State, sold and repurchased the property for an amount equal to its fair market value at that time. However, this provision shall not apply to property from which any gain could have been taxed by the other State in accordance with the provisions of this Article, other than this paragraph, if the individual had realized the gain before becoming a resident of that other State.
Article 14
Independent Personal Services
1. Income derived by an individual who is a resident of a Contracting State in respect of professional services or other activities of an independent character shall be taxable only in that State. However, such income may also be taxed in the other Contracting State if such services or activities are performed in that other State and if:
(a) the individual has a fixed base regularly available in that other State for the purpose of performing those services or activities; or
(b) the individual is present in that other State for the purpose of performing those services or activities for a period or periods amounting in the aggregate to 183 days or more in any continuous period of 12 months.
In such circumstances, only so much of the income as is attributable to that fixed base or is derived from the services or activities performed during that period of the individual’s presence in that other State, as the case may be, may be taxed in that other State.
2. The term “professional services” includes especially independent scientific, literary, artistic, educational or teaching activities as well as the independent activities of physicians, lawyers, engineers, architects, dentists and accountants as well as other activities requiring specific professional skill.
Article 15
Dependent Personal Services
1. Subject to the provisions of Articles 16, 18, 19 and 20, salaries, wages and other similar remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment shall be taxable only in that State unless the employment is exercised in the other Contracting State. If the employment is so exercised, such remuneration as is derived therefrom may be taxed in that other State.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment exercised in the other Contracting State shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned State if:
(a) the recipient is present in the other State for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in any twelve month period commencing or ending in the calendar year concerned, and
(b) the remuneration is paid by, or on behalf of, an employer who is not a resident of the other State, and
(c) the remuneration is not borne by a permanent establishment or a fixed base which the employer has in the other State.
3. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, remuneration derived in respect of an employment exercised aboard a ship or aircraft operated in international traffic by an enterprise of a Contracting State, may be taxed in that State.
Article 16
Directors’ Fees
Directors’ fees and other similar payments derived by a resident of a Contracting State in that resident’s capacity as a member of the board of directors or a similar organ of a company which is a resident of the other Contracting State, may be taxed in that other State.
Article 17
Artistes and Sportspersons
1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 7, 14 and 15, income derived by a resident of a Contracting State as an entertainer, such as a theatre, motion picture, radio or television artiste, or a musician, or as a sportsperson, from that resident’s personal activities as such exercised in the other Contracting State, may be taxed in that other State.
2. Where income in respect of personal activities exercised by an entertainer or a sportsperson in that individual’s capacity as such accrues not to the entertainer or sportsperson personally but to another person, that income may, notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 7, 14 and 15, be taxed in the Contracting State in which the activities of the entertainer or sportsperson are exercised.
3. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall not apply if it is established that neither the entertainer or the sportsperson nor persons related thereto, participate directly or indirectly in the profits of the person referred to in that paragraph.
4. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, income derived from such activities as defined in paragraph 1 performed within the framework of cultural exchange programs between the Contracting States shall be exempt from tax in the Contracting State in which these activities are exercised.
Article 18
Pensions and Annuities
1. Pensions and annuities arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
2. Pensions arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may also be taxed in the State in which they arise, and according to the laws of that State, but in the case of periodic pension payments, the tax so charged shall not exceed the lesser of
(a) 15 per cent of the gross amount of such periodic pension payments paid to the recipient in the calendar year concerned that exceeds twelve thousand Canadian dollars or its equivalent in Turkish liras at the dates of payment; and
(b) the rate determined by reference to the amount of tax that the recipient of the payment would otherwise be required to pay for the year on the total amount of the periodic pension payments received by the individual in the year, if the individual were a resident of the Contracting State in which the payment arises.
The competent authorities of the Contracting States may, if necessary, agree to modify the above-mentioned amount as a result of monetary or economic developments.
3. Annuities arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may also be taxed in the State in which they arise, and according to the law of that State; but the tax so charged shall not exceed 15 per cent of the portion thereof that is subject to tax in that State. However, this limitation does not apply to lump-sum payments arising on the surrender, cancellation, redemption, sale or other alienation of an annuity, or to payments of any kind under an annuity contract the cost of which was deductible, in whole or in part, in computing the income of any person who acquired the contract.
4. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement:
(a) war pensions and allowances (including pensions and allowances paid to war veterans or paid as a consequence of damages or injuries suffered as a consequence of a war) arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State shall be exempt from tax in that other State to the extent that they would be exempt from tax if received by a resident of the first-mentioned State; and
(b) alimony and other similar payments arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State who is subject to tax therein in respect thereof, shall be taxable only in that other State but the amount taxable in that other State shall not exceed the amount that would be taxable in the first-mentioned State if the recipient were a resident thereof.
5. For the purposes of the Agreement, the term “annuities” means a stated sum paid periodically at stated times during life or during a specified number of years, under an obligation to make the payments in return for adequate and full consideration (other than services rendered), but does not include a payment that is not a periodic payment or any annuity the cost of which was deductible for the purposes of taxation in the Contracting State in which it was acquired.
Article 19
Government Service
1. (a) Salaries, wages and other similar remuneration, other than a pension, paid by a Contracting State or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof to an individual in respect of services rendered to that State or subdivision or authority shall be taxable only in that State.
(b) However, such salaries, wages and other similar remuneration shall be taxable only in the other Contracting State if the services are rendered in that other State and the individual is a resident of that other State who:
(i) is a national of that other State but not a national of the first-mentioned State; or
(ii) did not become a resident of that State solely for the purpose of rendering the services.
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the provisions of Articles 15, 16 and 17 shall apply to salaries, wages and other similar remuneration in respect of services rendered in connection with a business carried on by a Contracting State or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof.
Article 20
Students
Payments which a student, apprentice or business trainee who is, or was immediately before visiting a Contracting State, a resident of the other Contracting State and who is present in the first-mentioned State solely for the purpose of that individual’s education or training receives for the purpose of that individual’s maintenance, education or training shall not be taxed in that State, provided that such payments arise from sources outside that State.
Article 21
Other Income
1. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2, items of income of a resident of a Contracting State, wherever arising, not dealt with in the foregoing Articles of this Agreement shall be taxable only in that State.
2. However, if such income is derived by a resident of a Contracting State from sources in the other Contracting State, such income may also be taxed in the State in which it arises, and according to the law of that State.
IV. TAXATION OF CAPITAL
Article 22
Capital
1. Capital represented by immovable property referred to in Article 6, owned by a resident of a Contracting State and situated in the other Contracting State, may be taxed in that other State.
2. Capital represented by movable property forming part of the business property of a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State or by movable property pertaining to a fixed base available to a resident of a Contracting State in the other Contracting State for the purpose of performing independent personal services, may be taxed in that other State.
3. Capital represented by ships and aircraft operated by an enterprise of a Contracting State in international traffic and by movable property pertaining to the operation of such ships and aircraft, shall be taxable only in that State.
4. All other elements of capital of a resident of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State.
V. METHODS FOR PREVENTION OF DOUBLE TAXATION
Article 23
Elimination of Double Taxation
1. In the case of Canada, double taxation shall be avoided as follows:
(a) subject to the existing provisions of the law of Canada regarding the deduction from tax payable in Canada of tax paid in a territory outside Canada and to any subsequent modification of those provisions — which shall not affect the general principle hereof — and unless a greater deduction or relief is provided under the laws of Canada, tax payable in Turkey on profits, income or gains arising in Turkey shall be deducted from any Canadian tax payable in respect of such profits, income or gains. For the purposes of this subparagraph, profits, income or gains of a resident of Canada which are taxed in Turkey in accordance with this Agreement shall be deemed to arise from sources in Turkey;
(b) subject to the existing provisions of the law of Canada regarding the allowance as a credit against Canadian tax of tax payable in a territory outside Canada and to any subsequent modification of those provisions — which shall not affect the general principle hereof — where a company which is a resident of Turkey pays a dividend to a company which is a resident of Canada and which controls directly or indirectly at least 10 per cent of the voting power in the first-mentioned company, the credit shall take into account the tax payable in Turkey by that first-mentioned company in respect of the profits out of which such dividend is paid; and
(c) where in accordance with any provision of the Agreement income derived or capital owned by a resident of Canada is exempt from tax in Canada, Canada may nevertheless, in calculating the amount of tax on other income or capital, take into account the exempted income or capital.
2. In the case of Turkey, double taxation shall be avoided as follows: where a resident of Turkey derives income or owns capital which, in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement, may be taxed in Canada and in Turkey, Turkey shall, subject to the provisions of Turkish taxation laws regarding credit for foreign taxes, allow as a deduction from the tax on income or capital of that person, an amount equal to the tax on income or capital paid in Canada. Such deduction shall not, however, exceed that part of the tax computed in Turkey before the deduction is given, which is appropriate to the income or capital which may be taxed in Canada.
3. For the purposes of applying subparagraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 to a company that is a resident of Canada, tax payable in Turkey shall include any tax which would have been payable in Turkey in respect of profits attributable to an active business carried on in Turkey for a taxation year, but for an exemption from or reduction of tax granted for that year, or any part thereof, under special tax measures in Turkey insofar as such measures were in force on, and have not been modified since, the date of signature of the Agreement or have been modified only in minor respects so as not to affect their general character. This paragraph shall apply,
(a) in respect of subparagraph (a) of paragraph 1, to taxation years of the company that begin in the five-year period that begins on the first day of January in the calendar year following that in which the Agreement enters into force, and
(b) in computing the taxes payable by a company that is a resident of Turkey for taxation years that begin in that period, for the purpose of applying subparagraph (b) of paragraph 1 to taxation years of a company resident in Canada that begin in that period.
VI. SPECIAL PROVISIONS
Article 24
Non-Discrimination
1. Nationals of a Contracting State shall not be subjected in the other Contracting State to any taxation or any requirement connected therewith which is other or more burdensome than the taxation and connected requirements to which nationals of that other State in the same circumstances are or may be subjected.
2. The taxation on a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State shall not be less favourably levied in that other State than the taxation levied on enterprises of that other State carrying on the same activities.
3. Enterprises of a Contracting State, the capital of which is wholly or partly owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by one or more residents of the other Contracting State, shall not be subjected in the first-mentioned State to any taxation or any requirement connected therewith which is other or more burdensome than the taxation and connected requirements to which other similar enterprises of the first-mentioned State, the capital of which is wholly or partly owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by one or more residents of a third State, are or may be subjected.
4. Nothing in this Article shall be construed as obliging a Contracting State to grant to residents of the other Contracting State any personal allowances, reliefs and reductions for taxation purposes on account of civil status or family responsibilities which it grants to its own residents.
5. In this Article, the term “taxation” means taxes which are the subject of this Agreement.
Article 25
Mutual Agreement Procedure
1. Where a resident of a Contracting State considers that the actions of one or both of the Contracting States result or will result for that person in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement, that person may, irrespective of the remedies provided by the domestic law of those States, address to the competent authority of the Contracting State of which that person is a resident an application in writing stating the grounds for claiming the revision of such taxation.
2. The competent authority referred to in paragraph 1 shall endeavour, if the objection appears to it to be justified and if it is not itself able to arrive at a satisfactory solution, to resolve the case by mutual agreement with the competent authority of the other Contracting State, with a view to the avoidance of taxation not in accordance with the Agreement.
3. A Contracting State shall not, after the expiry of the time limits provided in its national laws and, in any case, after five years from the end of the taxable period in which the income concerned has accrued, increase the tax base of a resident of either of the Contracting States by including therein items of income which have also been charged to tax in the other Contracting State. In the case of Canada, this paragraph shall not apply in the case of fraud, wilful default or neglect.
4. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall endeavour to resolve by mutual agreement any difficulties or doubts arising as to the interpretation or application of the Agreement.
5. The competent authorities of the Contracting States may consult together for the elimination of double taxation in cases not provided for in the Agreement and may communicate with each other directly for the purpose of applying the Agreement.
Article 26
Exchange of Information
1. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall exchange such information as is foreseeably relevant for carrying out the provisions of this Agreement or of the domestic laws of the Contracting States concerning taxes of every kind and description imposed on behalf of the Contracting States, insofar as the taxation thereunder is not contrary to the Agreement. The exchange of information is not restricted by Articles 1 and 2. Any information received by a Contracting State shall be treated as secret in the same manner as information obtained under the domestic laws of that State and shall be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) concerned with the assessment or collection of, the enforcement in respect of, or the determination of appeals in relation to taxes in that State. Such persons or authorities shall use the information only for such purposes. They may disclose the information in public court proceedings or in judicial decisions.
2. Nothing in paragraph 1 shall be construed so as to impose on a Contracting State the obligation:
(a) to carry out administrative measures at variance with the laws or the administrative practice of that or of the other Contracting State;
(b) to supply information which is not obtainable under the laws or in the normal course of the administration of that or of the other Contracting State;
(c) to supply information which would disclose any trade, business, industrial, commercial or professional secret or trade process, or information, the disclosure of which would be contrary to public policy (ordre public).
3. If information is requested by a Contracting State in accordance with this Article, the other Contracting State shall use its information gathering measures to obtain the requested information, even though the other State may not need such information for its own tax purposes. The obligation contained in the preceding sentence is subject to the limitations of paragraph 2 but in no case shall such limitations be construed to permit a Contracting State to decline to supply information solely because it has no domestic interest in such information.
4. In no case shall the provisions of paragraph 2 be construed to permit a Contracting State to decline to supply information solely because the information is held by a bank, other financial institution, nominee or person acting in an agency or fiduciary capacity or because the information relates to ownership interests in a person.
Article 27
Diplomatic Agents and Consular Officers
1. Nothing in this Agreement shall affect the fiscal privileges of diplomatic agents or consular officers under the general rules of international law or under the provisions of special agreements.
2. Notwithstanding Article 4, an individual who is a member of a diplomatic mission, consular post or permanent mission of a Contracting State which is situated in the other Contracting State or in a third State shall be deemed for the purposes of the Agreement to be a resident of the sending State if that individual is liable in the sending State to the same obligations in relation to tax on total income as are residents of that sending State.
3. The Agreement shall not apply to international organizations, to organs or officials thereof and to persons who are members of a diplomatic mission, consular post or permanent mission of a third State or group of States, being present in a Contracting State and who are not liable in either Contracting State to the same obligations in relation to tax on their total income as are residents thereof.
VII. FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 28
Entry into Force
1. Each Contracting State shall notify to the other the completion of the procedure required for the bringing into force of this Agreement in that State. The Agreement shall enter into force on the day when the latter of these notifications has been received.
2. The provisions of the Agreement shall have effect:
(a) in respect of tax withheld at the source, on amounts paid or credited to non-residents on or after the first day of January in the calendar year following that in which the Agreement enters into force; and
(b) in respect of taxes other than taxes withheld at the source, for taxation years beginning on or after the first day of January in the calendar year following that in which the Agreement enters into force.
Article 29
Termination
1. This Agreement shall remain in force until terminated by a Contracting State. Either Contracting State may terminate the Agreement by giving to the other, through diplomatic channels, a notice of termination in writing at least six months before the end of any calendar year.
2. In such event, the Agreement shall cease to have effect:
(a) in respect of tax withheld at the source, on amounts paid or credited to non-residents on or after the first day of January in the next following calendar year; and
(b) in respect of taxes other than taxes withheld at the source, for taxation years beginning on or after the first day of January in the next following calendar year.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Agreement and affixed their seals thereto.
DONE in duplicate at Ottawa, this 14th day of July 2009, in the English, French and Turkish languages, all three texts being equally authentic.
James Fox
Assistant Deputy Minister, Europe, Middle East, Maghreb
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
FOR CANADA
Mehmet Kilci
Commissioner of Revenue
Ministry of Finance
FOR THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY
SCHEDULE 2
(Section 2)
PROTOCOL
At the moment of signing the Agreement between Canada and the Republic of Turkey for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital, the undersigned have agreed upon the following provisions which shall constitute an integral part of the Agreement.
1. The Agreement shall not apply to any company, trust or other entity that is a resident of a Contracting State and is beneficially owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by one or more persons who are not residents of that State, if the amount of the tax imposed on the income or capital of the company, trust or other entity by that State (after taking into account any reduction or offset of the amount of tax in any manner, including a refund, reimbursement, contribution, credit or allowance to the company, trust, or other entity or to any other person) is substantially lower than the amount that would be imposed by that State if all of the shares of the capital stock of the company or all of the interests in the trust or other entity, as the case may be, were beneficially owned by one or more individuals who were residents of that State.
2. With reference to paragraph 1 of Article 6, it is understood that, in the case of immovable property situated in Canada, the provisions of that paragraph shall also apply to income from the alienation of immovable property.
3. With reference to Article 7, it is understood that, where an enterprise of a Contracting State has a permanent establishment in the other Contracting State, and the enterprise
(a) effects sales in that other State of goods or merchandise of the same or similar kind as those sold through that permanent establishment, or
(b) carries on other business activities in that other State of the same or similar kind as those effected through that permanent establishment
profits derived from such sales and business activities may be taxed in that other Contracting State as part of the profits of the permanent establishment to the extent that the same or similar kind of sales or activities have been effected through the permanent establishment. However, the profits derived from such sales or activities shall not be taxed in that other Contracting State if the enterprise can prove that the sales or the activities have been carried on for other purposes than achieving benefits under this Agreement.
4. With reference to paragraph 1 of Article 7, it is understood that where an enterprise of a Contracting State which had carried on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein, receives after it has ceased to carry on business as aforesaid, profits attributable to that permanent establishment, such profits may be taxed in that other State in accordance with the principles laid down in Article 7.
5. It is understood that, notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 7 and 8, profits derived from the operation of ships or aircraft used principally to transport passengers or goods exclusively between places in a Contracting State may be taxed in that State.
6. With reference to paragraph 3 of Article 10, it is understood that the term “dividends” in the case of Turkey shall also include the income from investment funds and investment trusts.
7. With reference to paragraph 2 of Article 21, it is understood that, in the case of income from an estate or trust, the tax charged by Canada shall, provided that the income is taxable in Turkey, not exceed 15 per cent of the gross amount of the income.
8. With reference to paragraph 1 of Article 25, it is understood that to be admissible, the application referred to in that paragraph must be submitted:
(a) in the case of Canada, within two years from the first notification of the action which gives rise to taxation not in accordance with the Agreement; and
(b) in the case of Turkey, within one year from the first notification of the action which gives rise to taxation not in accordance with the Agreement. However, if such period has expired, the taxpayer may, in any case, present an application to the competent authority of Turkey within a period of five years beginning on the first day of January of the calendar year next following the related taxable year. For that purpose, the related taxable year is the year in which the income subject to the action resulting in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement is derived.
9. It is understood that nothing in the Agreement shall be construed as preventing Canada from imposing a tax on amounts included in the income of a resident of Canada with respect to a partnership, trust, or controlled foreign affiliate, in which that resident has an interest. It is also understood that this provision shall not give Canada any right in respect of the taxation of residents of Turkey.
10. It is understood that nothing in the Agreement shall be construed so as to restrict in any manner any exemption, allowance, credit or other deduction accorded
(a) by the laws of a Contracting State in the determination of the tax imposed by that State; or
(b) by any other agreement entered into by a Contracting State.
11. For the purposes of paragraph 3 of Article XXII (Consultation) of the General Agreement on Trade in Services, the Contracting States agree that, notwithstanding that paragraph, any dispute between them as to whether a measure falls within the scope of this Agreement may be brought before the Council for Trade in Services, as provided by that paragraph, only with the consent of both Contracting States. Any doubt as to the interpretation of this paragraph shall be resolved under paragraph 4 of Article 25 or, failing agreement under that procedure, pursuant to any other procedure agreed to by both Contracting States.
IN WITNESS whereof the undersigned have signed this Protocol and affixed their seals thereto.
DONE in duplicate at Ottawa, this 14th day of July 2009, in the English, French and Turkish languages, all three texts being equally authentic.
James Fox
Assistant Deputy Minister, Europe, Middle East, Maghreb
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
FOR CANADA
Mehmet Kilci
Commissioner of Revenue
Ministry of Finance
FOR THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY
Published under authority of the Senate of Canada
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