TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes
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.... directs that all the provisions of the said Agreement shall be given effect to in the Union of India. ANNEXURE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION AND THE PREVENTION OF FISCAL EVASION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIAL: and THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM : Desiring to conclude an Agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, have agreed as follows : CHAPTER I SCOPE OF THE AGREEMENT 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 all taxes imposed on total income or on elements of income including taxes on gains from the sale, exchange or transfer of movable or immovable property and taxes on the total amounts of wages or salaries paid by enterprises. The term "taxes" shall not include any amount which is payable in respect of any default or omission in relation to the....
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....uires; (d) the term "competent authority" means : - in the case of India, the Central Government in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) or their authorised representative, and - in the case of Belgium, the Minister of Finance or his authorised representative; (e) the term "tax" means Indian tax or Belgian tax as the context requires (f) the term "person" includes an individual, a company and any other entity which is treated, as a taxable unit under the tax laws in force in the Contracting State of which it is a resident; (g) the term "company" means in the case of India any entity which is a company or which is treated as a company under the Indian tax law, and in the case of Belgium any entity which is a company or which is treated as a body corporate under the Belgian tax law; (h) 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; (i) the term "international traffic" means any transport by a ship or ai....
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....lace of effective management is situated. 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 or a warehouse; (f) a mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry or any other place of extraction of natural resources; (g) an installation or structure, used for the exploration or exploitation of natural resources; (h) the provision of services or facilities in connection with or supply of plant and machinery on hire used or to be used in, the prospecting for, or extraction or production of mineral oils; (i) a premises used as a sales outlet or for receiving or soliciting orders; (j) a building site or construction, installation or assembly project or supervisory activities in connection therewith, where such site, project or activities (together with other such sites, projects or activities....
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....ehalf of that enterprise and other enterprises controlling, controlled by, or subject to the same common control, as that enterprise, he will not be considered an agent of an independent status within the meaning of this paragraph. 6. 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 the other Contracting State (whether through a permanent establishment or otherwise) shall not of itself constitute either company a permanent establishment of the other. CHAPTER III TAXATION OF INCOME ARTICLE 6 INCOME FROM IMMOVABLE PROPERTY 1. Income from "immovable property" may be taxed in the Contracting State in which such property is situated. 2. The term immovable property shall be defined in accordance with 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 righ....
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....on is relaxed or overridden by any Convention or Agreement between that State and a third State which is a member of the OECD which enters into force after the date of entry into force of this Agreement, the competent authority of that State shall notify the competent authority of the other Contracting State of the terms of the corresponding paragraph in the Convention or Agreement with that third State immediately after the entry into force of that Convention or Agreement and, if the competent authority of the other Contracting State so requests, the provisions of this sub-paragraph shall be amended by protocol to reflect such terms. (b) However, no such deduction shall be allowed in respect of amounts, if any, paid (otherwise than towards reimbursement of actual expenses) by the permanent establishment to the head office of the enterprise or any of its other offices, by way of royalties, fees or other similar payments in return for the use of patents or other rights, or by way of commission or other charges for specific services performed or for management, or, except in the case of a banking enterprise, by way of interest on moneys lent to the permanent establishment. Likewis....
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....uch income; (b) income derived from the operation of ships or aircraft in international traffic shall mean income derived by an enterprise described in paragraph 1 from the transportation by sea or air respectively of passengers, mail, livestock or goods carried on by the owners or lessees or charterers of ships or aircraft including : (i) the sale of tickets for such transportation on behalf of other enterprises; (ii) any other activity directly connected with such transportation; (iii) the leasing of ships or aircraft on charter fully equipped, manned and supplied, or on a bare boat charter basis where the leasing is incidental to any activity directly connected with such transportation; (c) income derived from the operation of ships in international traffic, includes income derived from the use, maintenance or rental of containers (including trailers and related equipment for the transport of containers) in connection with the transportation of goods or merchandise in international traffic, where the income is derived from an activity which is incidental to any activity directly connected with such transportation. 3. The provisions....
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....usiness 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 dividend 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 companies undistributed profits to a tax on the companies undistributed profits, even if the dividends paid or the undistributed profits consist wholly or partly of profits or income arising in such other State. ARTICLE 11 INTEREST 1. Interest arising in a C....
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....n 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. ARTICLE 12 ROYALTIES AND FEES FOR TECHNICAL SERVICES 1. Royalties and fees for technical services 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 and fees for technical services 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 or fees for technical services is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed 20 per cent. of the gross amount of the royalties or fees for technical services. 3. (a) The term "royalties" as used in this Article means payments of any kind....
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....ween both of them and some other person, the amount of the royalties or fees for technical services, having regard to the use, right, information or technical services 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 royalties or fees for technical services shall remain taxable according to the laws of each Contracting State. 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 alie....
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....d 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 the relevant previous year or taxable period, as the case may be; (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 deductible in computing the profits or income of 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 internat....
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....r local authorities. 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2 and of Articles 7, 14 and 15, where income in respect of personal activities exercised by an entertainer or an athlete in his capacity as such in a Contracting State accrues not to the entertainer or athlete himself but to another person, that income shall be taxable only in the other Contracting State, if that other person is a resident of that other Contracting State and is supported wholly or substantially from the public funds of that other State, including any of its political sub-divisions or local authorities. ARTICLE 18 NON-GOVERNMENT PENSIONS AND ANNUITIES 1. Any pension, other than a pension referred to in Article 19, or any annuity derived by a resident of a Contracting State from sources within the other Contracting State shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned Contracting State. 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, pensions paid and other payments made under a public scheme which is part of the social security system of a Contracting State or a political sub-division or a local authority thereof shall be taxable only in that State. 3. The term pension means a perio....
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....er Contracting State. 2. This article shall not apply to income from personal services for research if such research is undertaken primarily for the private benefit of a specific person or persons. 3. For the purposes of this Article and Article 21, an individual shall be deemed to be a resident of a Contracting State if he is a resident of that Contracting State in the year in which he visits the other Contracting State or in the year immediately preceding that year. ARTICLE 21 PAYMENTS RECEIVED BY STUDENTS AND APPRENTICES 1. An individual who is a resident of a Contracting State and visits the other Contracting State solely : (a) as a student at a university, college or other recognised educational institution in that other Contracting State, or (b) as a business apprentice, or (c) for the purpose of study or research, as a recipient of a grant, allowance or award, from a governmental, religious, charitable, scientific or educational organisation, shall be exempt from tax in that other Contracting State : (i) on all remittances from abroad for the purposes of maintenance, education or training; (ii) on the grant, allowan....
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....this Agreement. 2. In the case of India, double taxation shall be avoided as follows : (a) Where a resident of India derives income which, in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement, may be taxed in Belgium, India shall allow as a deduction from the tax on the income of that resident an amount equal to the income-tax paid in Belgium whether directly or by deduction. Such deduction shall not, however, exceed that part of the income-tax (as computed before the deduction is given) which is attributable to the income which may be taxed in Belgium. Further, where such resident is a company by which surtax is payable in India, the deduction in respect of income-tax paid in Belgium shall be allowed in the first instance from income-tax payable by the company in India and as to the balance, if any, from surtax payable by it in India. (b) Where a resident of India derives income which, in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement, shall be taxable only in Belgium, India may include this income in the tax base but shall allow as a deduction from the income-tax that part of the income-tax which is attributable to the income derived from Belgium. 3. In the....
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....graph (b)(i), the term Indian tax levied shall be deemed to include any amount which would have been payable as Indian tax under the laws of India and in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement for any year but for a deduction allowed in computing the taxable income or an exemption from or a reduction of tax granted for that year under : (i) sections 10(4), 10(4B), 10(15)(iv) and 80L of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), so far as they were in force on, and have not been modified since, the date of the signature of the Agreement, or have been modified only in minor respects so as not to affect their general character; or (ii) any other provision which may be enacted after the Agreement enters into force granting a deduction in computing the taxable income or an exemption from or a reduction of tax and which the competent authorities of the Contracting States agree to be for the purposes of economic development of India, if it has not been modified thereafter or has been modified only in minor respects so as not to affect its general character; the competent authorities may in such a case decide as to the period for which the benefit of this clause shal....
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....ment. 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 him in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement, he may, irrespective of the remedies provided by the domestic law of those States, present his case to the competent authority of the Contracting State of which he is a resident or, if his case comes under paragraph 1 of Article 24, to that of the Contracting State of which he is a national. The case must be presented within two years from the first notification of the action resulting in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement. 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 which is not in accordance with the Agreement : Provided that the case has been presented within the time period specified in paragraph 1, any agreement reached shall be implemented notwithstanding a....
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.... basis. 3. In no case shall the provisions of paragraph 1 be construed so as to impose on a Contracting State the obligation : (a) to carry out administrative measures at variance with the laws or 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. ARTICLE 27 AID AND ASSISTANCE IN RECOVERY 1. The Contracting States shall lend aid and assistance to each other in order to notify and recover the taxes mentioned in Article 2. 2. The interest due for delay or default in the payment of taxes shall be treated as tax for the purposes of this Article. 3. On the request of the competent authority of a Contracting State, the competent authority of the other Contracting State shall secure, in accordance with the legal provisions and regulations applicable to the notification and r....
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.... (b) in Belgium : (i) in respect of all tax due at source on income credited or payable on or after the first day of January of the calendar year next following the calendar year in which the Agreement enters into force; (ii) in respect of all tax other than tax due at source on income derived during any taxable period ending on or after the thirty-first day of December of the calendar year next following the calendar year in which the Agreement enters into force. 2. The Agreement between the Government of India and the Government of Belgium for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, and the Protocol thereto, signed on 7th February, 1974 and the Supplementary Protocol modifying the said Agreement and Protocol signed on 20th October, 1984, shall terminate and cease to have effect in respect of the taxes on income to which the present Agreement applies in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article. ARTICLE 30 TERMINATION This Agreement shall remain in force indefinitely. However, either of the Contracting State may, on or before the thirtieth day of June in any c....
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....esent Agreement with effect from the date from which the present Agreement or the said Convention or Agreement is effective, whichever date is later. 2. Ad Article 7 (a) In the determination of the profits of a permanent establishment in Belgium of an enterprise which is a resident of India, Belgium shall allow as deductions, notwithstanding the provisions of the first sentence of sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph 3 of Article 7, executive and general administrative expenses incurred whether in Belgium or elsewhere insofar as they are reasonably allowable to that permanent establishment. (b) Where the law of the Contracting State in which a permanent establishment is situated imposes in accordance with the provisions of the first sentence of sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph 3 of Article 7, a restriction on the amount of the executive and general administrative expenses which may be allowed as deductions in determining the profits of such permanent establishment, it is understood that in determining the profits of such permanent establishment the deduction in respect of such executive and general administrative expenses in no case shall be less than what is allowable as on the d....