Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of Belaru for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes
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....ealth-tax Act, 1957 (27 of 1957), the Central Government hereby directs that all the provisions of the said Agreement shall be given effect to in the Union of India. [Notification No. 10646/F.No. 501/7/92-F.T.D.] A.N. PRASAD, Jt. Secy. AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS For the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on property (Capital) The Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of Belarus 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 property (capital) have agreed as follows: Article 1 PERSONAL SCOPE 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 property (capital) imposed on behalf of a Contracting State or of its political sub divisions or local authorities, irrespective of the manner in which they ....
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....but shall not include any amount which is payable in respect of any default or omission in relation to the taxes to which this Agreement applies or which represents a penalty imposed relating to those taxes ; (e) the term "person" includes an individual, a company, a body of person and any other entity which is treated as a taxable unit under the taxation laws in force in the respective Contracting States; (f) the term "company" means : (i) in India, any body corporate or other entity which is treated as a company or body corporate under the taxation was in force ; (ii) in belarus, any legal person or any entity which is treated as a legal person for tax purposes ; (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 "Competent authority" means : (i) in the case of India, the Central Government in the Ministry of Finance....
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....e permanent home available to him in either Contracting State, he shall be deemed to be a resident of the Contracting State in which he has an habitual abode; (c) if he has an habitual abode in both States or in neither of them, he shall be deemed to be a resident of the State of which he is a national; (d) if each State considers him as its own national or if he is not a national of either 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 if a person other than an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then it shall be deemed to be a resident of the State in which its place of effective management is situated. If the State in which its place of effective management is situated can not be determined, then the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall settle the question by mutual agreement. Article 5 Permanent Establishment 1. For the purposes of this Agreement, the term "permanent establishment" means a fixed place of business t....
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....d place of business in the other Contracting State for any purposes other than the purposes specified in the said sub-paragraphs. 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, where a person-other than an agent of an independent status to whom paragraph 5 applies-is acting 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 3 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 firs-mentioned State a stock of goods or merchandise from which he regularly delivers goods or merchandise on be....
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....bsp;in which the property in question is situated. Ships, boats, motor vehicles 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 apply to income from immovable property of an enterprise and also 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 also be taxed in the other State but only so much of them as is attributable to: (a) that permanent establishment; (b) sales in that other State of goods or merchandise of the same or similar kind as those sold through that permanent establishment; or (c) other business ....
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....nbsp;the operation of such ships or aircraft, and the provisions of Article 11 shall not apply in relation to such interest. 4. For the purposes of this Article, profits from the operation of ships or aircraft in international traffic shall mean profits derived by an enterprise from the transportation by sea or air, respectively, of passengers, mail, livestock, goods or merchandise carried on by the owners or lessees or charterers of ships or aircraft. This will also include : (a) the sale of tickets for such transportation on behalf of other enterprises; (b) the use, maintenance, or rental of containers (including trailers, barges, and related equipment for the transportation of containers) used in connection with the operation of ships or aircraft in international traffic; (c) the rental of ships or aircraft incidental to the operation of ships or aircraft in international traffic; and (d) other activity directly connected with operation of ships or aircraft in international traffic. Article 9 Associated Enterprises Where: (a) an enterprise of a Contracti....
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....lishment 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 Articles 7 or 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, even if the dividends paid or the undistributed profits consist wholly or partly of profits or income arising in that other State. Article 11 Interest 1. Interest arising in a Contracting State and paid to a....
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....is paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment or fixed base. In such case the provisions of Article 7 or 14, as the case may be, shall apply. 6. Interest shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the payer is that State itself, its political subdivision, a local authority or 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 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 payer and the beneficial owner i....
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....y or contract in respect of which the royalties or fees for technical services 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. 6. Royalties or fees for technical services 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 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 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 owne....
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....alienator is a resident. Article 14 Independent Persona) Services 1. Income derived by a resident of a Contracting State from the performance of professional services or other independent activities 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 a period of twelve 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 independent activities of physici....
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....e entertainer or sportsperson himself but to another person, such 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 paragraphs 1 and 2, shall not apply to income from activities performed in a Contracting State by entertainers or sportspersons if the visit to that State is supported wholly by public funds of one or both of the Contracting States of political subdivisions or local authorities thereof or the activity is exercised within the framework of cultural or sports cooperation agreement between the Contracting States. In such a case, the income is taxable only in the Contracting State of which the entertainer or sportsperson is a resident, Article 18 GOVERNMENT SERVICE 1. (A) Remuneration, other than 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....
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....ther State for an amount not exceeding the amount which is exempt from tax under the laws of the other Contracting State for any fiscal year; provided that such employment is directly related to his studies or is undertaken for the maintenance. 2. 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 Contracting State. Article 21 PROFESSORS, TEACHERS AND RESEARCH SCHOLARS 1. A professor or teacher who is or was a resident of one of the Contracting State immediately before visiting the other Contracting State for the purpose of teaching or engaging in research, or both, at a university, college, or other similar institution in that Contracting State shall be exempt from tax in that other State on any remuneration for such teaching or research for a period not exceeding two years from the date of his arrival in th....
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....other State. 3. Property (Capital) represented by ships and aircraft operated in international traffic or by boats engaged in inland waterways transport and by property other than immovable property pertaining to the operation of such ships, boats and aircraft shall be taxable only in the Contracting State of which the owner of such ships, boats, aircraft or property is a resident. 4. All other elements of property (Capital) or a resident of a Contracting State shall be taxed only in that State. Article 24 ELIMINATION OF DOUBLE TAXATION 1. The laws in force in either of the Contracting State shall continue to govern the taxation of income and property (Capital) on the respective Contracting State except where express provision to the contrary is made in this Agreement, 2. In the case of India, double taxation shall be elimination as follows : Where a resident of India derivers income or owns capital which, in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement, may be taxed in the Republic of Belarus, India shall allow as a deduction from the tax on the income of that resident an....
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....ting 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 an enterprise of the other Contracting State, has in the first-mentioned State at a rate of tax which is higher than that imposed on the profits of a similar enterprise of the first-mentioned Contracting State, nor as being in conflict with the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 7 of this Agreement, 3. Nothing contained in this Article shall be construed as obliging a Contracting State to grant to persons not resident in that State any personal allowances, reliefs, reductions and deductions for taxation purposes which are by law available only to persons who are so resident. 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....
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.... 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 an 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 27 EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION 1. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall exchange such information (including domestics) as is necessary for carrying out the provisions of this Agreement or of the domestic laws of the Contracting States concerning taxes covered by the Agreement, insofar as the t....
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....bsp;been finally determined will be accepted for enforcement by the other Contracting State to which the request is made and collected in that State in accordance with the laws applicable to the enforcement and collection of its taxes. 3. In the case of Indian tax, the request will be sent by the Central Board of Direct Taxes, Department of Revenue to the State Tax Committee of the Republic of Belarus and will be accompanied by such certificate as is required by the laws of India to establish that the taxes have been finally determined and are due from the taxpayer, 4. In the case of Belarusian tax, the request will be sent by the State Tax Committee of the Republic of Belarus to the Central Board of Direct Taxes, Department of Revenue, in Indian and will be accompanied by such certificate as is required by the laws of the Republic of Belarus to establish that the taxes have been finally determined and are due from the taxpayer. 5. Where that tax claim has not become final by reason of its being subject to appeal or any other proceeding, a Contracting State may, in order to protect its re....
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....year nest 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 given 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, (i) In respect of income arising in any fiscal year beginning on or after the first day of April next following the calendar year in which the notice of termination is given; (ii) in respect of capital which is held at the expiry of any pervious year beginning on or after the first day of April next following the calendar year in which the notice of termination is given. (b) in Belarus, (i) in respect of taxes withheld at source, to amounts of income derived on or after 1st of January in the calendar year next following the year in which the....
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