TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
DTAA - Agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of fiscal evasion with foreign countries - Estonia
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....scal year beginning on or after the first day of April next following the calendar year in which the Agreement enters into force; Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 90 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Government hereby directs that all the provisions of the said Agreement, as set out in the Annexure hereto, shall be given effect to in the Union of India with effect from 1st day of April, 2013. Annexure Agreement Between the Republic of India and the Republic of Estonia for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on income The Republic of India and the Republic of Estonia, desiring to conclude an Agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and with a view to promoting economic cooperation between the two countries, have agreed as follows: 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 imposed on behalf of ....
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....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 the ship or aircraft is operated solely between places in the other Contracting State; (i) the term "competent authority" means: (i) in India, the Finance Minister, Government of India, or its authorized representative; (ii) in Estonia, the Minister of Finance or his authorized representative; (j) the term "national" means: (i) any individual possessing the nationality of a Contracting State; (ii) any legal person, partnership or association deriving its status as such from the laws in force in a Contracting State; (k) the term "tax" m....
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....State of which he is a national; (d) if he 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 1, a person other than an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall endeavour to resolve the case by mutual agreement due regard being had to its place of effective management or to any other relevant criterion. In the absence of such agreement, such person shall not be considered to be a resident of either Contracting State for the purposes of enjoying benefits under 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; ....
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....ing 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 he regularly delivers goods or merchandise on behalf of the enterprise; or (c) habitually secures orders in the first-mentioned State, wholly or almost wholly for the enterprise itself. 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....
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....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 as deductions 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. The expenses to be allowed as deductions by a Contracting State shall include only the expenses that are deductible under the domestic laws of that State. However, no such deduction shall be allowed in respect of amounts, if any, paid (otherwise than towards....
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....raffic shall be taxable only in that State. 2. Profits derived by a transportation enterprise which is a resident of a Contracting State from the use, maintenance, or rental of containers (including trailers and other equipment for the transport of containers) used for the transport of goods or merchandise in international traffic shall be taxable only in that Contracting State unless the containers are used solely within the other Contracting State. 3. For the purposes of this Article interest on investments directly connected with the operation of ships or aircraft in international traffic shall be regarded as profits derived from the operation of such ships or aircraft if they are integral to the carrying on of such business, and the provisions of Article 11 shall not apply in relation to such interest. 4. The provisions of paragraph 1 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 o....
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....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, 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 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 the company's undistributed profits, eve....
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....ay 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 he 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 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. ....
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....owever, the person paying the royalties or fees for technical services, whether he 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 liability to pay the royalties or fees for technical services was incurred, and such royalties or fees for technical services are borne by such permanent establishment or fixed base, then such royalties or fees for technical services shall be deemed to arise in the Contracting State in which the permanent establishment or fixed base is situated. (b) Where under sub-paragraph (a) royalties or fees for technical services do not arise in one of the Contracting States, and the royalties relate to the use of, or the right to use, the right or property, or the fees for technical services relate to services performed, in one of the Contracting States, the royalties or fees for technical services shall be deemed to arise in that Contracting State. 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 or fees for technical services, having regard to ....
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....ties of a similar character shall be taxable only in that State except in the following circumstances when such income may also be taxed in the other Contracting State: (a) if he has a fixed base regularly available to him in the other Contracting State for the purpose of performing his activities; in that case, only so much of the income as is attributable to that fixed base may be taxed in that other State; or (b) if his stay in the other Contracting State is for a period or periods amounting to or exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in any period of 12 months; in that case, only so much of the income as is derived from his activities performed in that other State 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, surgeons, dentists and accountants. Article 15 DEPENDENT PERSONAL SERVICES 1. Subject to the provisions of Articles 16, 18, 19, 20 and 21, salaries, wages and other similar remuneration derived by a resident of a Contra....
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....activities performed in a Contracting State by entertainers or sportspersons if the visit to that State is substantially supported by public funds of one or both of the Contracting States or of political sub-divisions or local authorities thereof. In such a case, the income shall be taxable only in the Contracting State of which the individual entertainer or sportsperson is a resident. Article 18 PENSIONS Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 19, pensions and other similar remuneration paid to a resident of a Contracting State in consideration of past employment shall be taxable only in that State. Article 19 GOVERNMENT SERVICE - 1. (a) Salaries, wages and other similar remuneration, other than a pension, paid by a Contracting State or a political sub-division or a local authority thereof to an individual in respect of services rendered to that State or sub-division 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) ....
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....2. In respect of grants, scholarship and remuneration from employment not covered by paragraph 1, a student referred to paragraph 1 shall, in addition, be entitled during such education or training to the same exemptions, reliefs or reductions in respect of taxes available to residents of the Contracting State which he is visiting. 3. The benefits of this Article shall extend only for such period of time as may be reasonable or customarily required to complete the education or training undertaken, but in no event shall any individual have the benefits of this Article, for more than five consecutive years from the date of his first arrival in that other State. Article 22 OTHER INCOME 1. 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. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply to income, other than income from immovable property as defined in paragraph 2 of Article 6, 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 s....
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....ment income derived by a resident of Estonia is exempt from tax in Estonia, Estonia may nevertheless, in calculating the amount of tax on the remaining income of such resident, take into account the exempted income. 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, in particular with respect to residence, are or may be subjected. This provision shall, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 1, also apply to persons who are not residents of one or both of the Contracting States. 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. This provision shall not be construed as preventing a Contracting State from charging the profits of a permanent establishment which a company of th....
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....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 which is not in accordance with the Agreement. 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 Agreement. They may also consult together for the elimination of double taxation in cases not provided for in the Agreement. 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. When it seems advisable in order to reach agreement to have an oral exchange of opinions, such exchange may take place through a Commission consisting of representatives of the competent authorities of the Contracting States. Article 26 EXCHANGE OF INFO....
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....tion, even though that 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 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 a fiduciary capacity or because it relates to ownership interests in a person. Article 27 ASSISTANCE IN THE COLLECTION OF TAXES 1. The Contracting States shall lend assistance to each other in the collection of revenue claims. This assistance is not restricted by Articles 1 and 2. The competent authorities of the Contracting States may by mutual agreement settle the mode of application of this Article. 2. The term "revenue claim" as used in this Article means an amount owed in respect of taxes of every kind and description imposed on behalf of the Contr....
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....ts or administrative bodies of that State. Nothing in this Article shall be construed as creating or providing any right to such proceedings before any court or administrative body of the other Contracting State. 7. Where, at any time after a request has been made by a Contracting State under paragraph 3 or 4 and before the other Contracting State has collected and remitted the relevant revenue claim to the first-mentioned State, the relevant revenue claim ceases to be: (a) in the case of a request under paragraph 3, a revenue claim of the first-mentioned State that is enforceable under the laws of that State and is owed by a person who, at that time, cannot, under the laws of that State, prevent its collection, or (b) in the case of a request under paragraph 4, a revenue claim of the first-mentioned State in respect of which that State may, under its laws, take measures of conservancy with a view to ensure its collection, the competent authority of the first-mentioned State shall promptly notify the competent authority of the other State of that fact and, at the option of the other State, the first-mentioned State shall either suspend or wi....
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....this Article. 3. The provisions of this Agreement shall have effect: (a) in India, in respect of income derived in any fiscal year beginning on or after the first day of April next following the calendar year in which the Agreement enters into force; and (b) in Estonia: (i) in respect of taxes withheld at source, on income derived on or after the first day of January next following the year in which the Agreement enters into force; (ii) in respect of other taxes on income, for taxes chargeable for any fiscal year beginning on or after the first day of January next following the year in which the Agreement enters into force. Article 31 TERMINATION This Agreement shall remain in force indefinitely until terminated by a Contracting State. Either Contracting State may terminate the Agreement, through diplomatic channels, by giving notice of termination at least six months before the end of any calendar year beginning after the expiration of five years from the date of entry into force of the Agreement. In such event, the Agreement shall cease to have effect: (a) in India, in respect of income de....