CONVENTION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE CZECH
REPUBLIC FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION AND THE PREVENTION OF FISCAL EVASION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME AND CAPITAL(三)
颁布时间:1993-09-16
ARTICLE 13
Gains
1. Gains derived by a resident of a Contracting State from the
alienation of real property situated in the other Contracting State may be
taxed in that other State.
2. For the purposes of this Article the term "real property situated
in the other Contracting State" includes real property referred to in
Article 6 which is situated in that other State. It also includes shares
of stock of a company the property of which consists at least 50 percent
of real property situated in the other Contracting State, and an interest
in a partnership, trust or estate to the extent that its assets consist of
real property situated in the other State.
3. Gains from the alienation of personal (movable) property which are
attributable to a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a
Contracting State has or had in the other Contracting State, or which are
attributable to a fixed base which is or was available to a resident of a
Contracting State in the other Contracting State for the purpose of
performing independent personal services, and gains from the alienation of
such a permanent establishment (alone or with the whole enterprise) or
such a fixed base, may be taxed in that other State.
4. Gains derived by an enterprise of a Contracting State from the
alienation of ships, aircraft or containers used in international traffic
shall be taxable only in that State.
5. Payments described in paragraph 3 of Article 12 (Royalties) shall
be taxable only in accordance with the provisions of Article 12.
6. Gains from the alienation of any property other than property
referred to in paragraphs 1 through 5 shall be taxable only in the
Contracting State of which the alienator is a resident.
ARTICLE 14
Independent Personal Services
1. Income derived by an individual who is a resident of a Contracting
State from the performance of personal services in an independent capacity
shall be taxable only in that State, unless such services are performed or
were performed in the other Contracting State and:
a) the income is attributable to a fixed base regularly available to
the individual in that other State for the purpose of performing his
activities; in such a case, the income attributable to that fixed base may
be taxed in that other State; or
b) the individual is present in the other Contracting State for a
period or periods exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in any twelve month
period.
2. The term "personal 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 (Directors' Fees), 19
(Pensions, Annuities, Alimony, and Child Support), 20 (Government
Service), and 21 (Students, Trainees, Teachers, and Researchers),
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;
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 in respect of an employment as a member of the regular
Complement of a ship or aircraft operated by an enterprise of a
Contracting State in international traffic may be taxed only in that
Contracting State.
ARTICLE 16
Directors' Fees
Directors' fees and similar payments derived by a resident of a
Contracting State for services rendered in the other Contracting State in
his capacity as a member of the board of directors or another similar
organ of a company which is a resident of the other Contracting State may
be taxed in that other State.
ARTICLE 17
Limitation on Benefits
1. A person that is a resident of a Contracting State and derives
income from the other Contracting State shall be entitled under this
Convention to relief from taxation in that other Contracting State only if
such person is:
a) an individual;
b) a Contracting State, or a political subdivision or local authority
thereof;
c) engaged in the active conduct of a trade or business in the
first-mentioned State (other than the business of making or managing
investments, unless these activities are banking or insurance activities
carried on by a bank or insurance company) and the income derived from the
other Contracting State is derived in connection with, or is
incidental to, that trade or business;
d) a company in whose principal class of shares there is substantial
and regular trading on a recognized securities exchange, or which is
wholly owned, directly or indirectly, by a resident of that Contracting
State in whose principal class of shares there is such substantial and
regular trading on a recognized securities exchange;
e) an entity that is a not-for-profit organization (including a
pension fund or private foundation) and that, by virtue of that status, is
generally exempt from income taxation in its Contracting State of
residence, provided that more than half of the beneficiaries, members or
participants, if any, in such organization are entitled, under this Article,
to the benefits of this Convention; or
f) a person that satisfies both of the following conditions:
i) more than 50 percent of the beneficial interest in such person (or
in the case of a company, more than 50 percent of the number of shares of
each class of the company's shares) is owned, directly or indirectly, by
persons entitled to the benefits of this Convention under subparagraphs
a), b), d) or e); and
ii) not more than 50 percent of the gross income of such person is
used directly or indirectly, to meet liabilities (including liabilities
for interest or royalties) to persons not entitled to the benefits of this
Convention under subparagraph a), b), d) or e).
2. A person which is not entitled to the benefits of the Convention
pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 1 may, nevertheless, be granted
the benefits of the Convention if the competent authority of the State in
which the income arises so determines.
3. For purposes of subparagraph d) of paragraph 1, the term
"recognized securities exchange" means:
a) the NASDAQ System owned by the National Association of Securities
Dealers, Inc. and any stock exchange registered with the Securities and
Exchange Commission as a national securities exchange for purposes of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934;
b) the Czech stock exchange (Burza Cennych Papiru Praha, A.S.) and any
other stock exchange approved by the State authorities; and
c) any other stock exchange agreed upon by the competent authorities.
4. For purposes of subparagraph f (ii) of paragraph 1, the term "gross
income" means gross receipts, or where an enterprise is engaged in a
business which includes the manufacture or production of goods, gross
receipts reduced by the direct costs of labor and materials attributable
to such manufacture or production and paid or payable out of such
receipts.
ARTICLE 18
Artistes and Sportsmen
1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 14 (Independent Personal
Services) and 15 (Dependent Personal Services), income derived by a
resident of a Contracting State as an entertainer, such as a theater,
motion picture, radio, or television artiste, or a musician, or as a
sportsman, from his personal activities as such exercised in the other
Contracting State, may be taxed in that other State, except where the
amount of the gross receipts derived by such entertainer or sportsman,
including expenses reimbursed to him or borne on his behalf, from such
activities does not exceed twenty thousand United States dollars ($20,000)
or its equivalent in Czech crowns for the taxable year concerned. Such tax
may be imposed by withholding upon the entire amount of all gross receipts
derived by such entertainer or sportsman at any time during the taxable
year concerned, provided that such entertainer or sportsman is entitled to
receive a refund of such taxes when there is no tax liability for such
taxable year in accordance with the provisions of this Convention.
2. Where income in respect of activities exercised by an entertainer
or a sportsman in his capacity as such accrues not to the entertainer or
sportsman but to another person, that income of that other person may,
notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 7 (Business Profits) and 14
(Independent Personal Services), be taxed in the Contracting State in
which the activities of the entertainer or sportsman are exercised, unless
it is established that neither the entertainer or sportsman nor persons
related thereto participate directly or indirectly in the profits of that
other person in any manner, including the receipt of deferred
remuneration, bonuses, fees, dividends, partnership distributions, or
other distributions.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, income
derived by a resident of a Contracting State as an entertainer or
sportsman shall be exempt from tax by the other Contracting State if the
visit to that other State is substantially supported by public funds of
the first-mentioned State or a political subdivision or local authority
thereof or is made pursuant to a specific arrangement agreed to by the
Governments of the Contracting States.
ARTICLE 19
Pensions, Annuities, Alimony, and Child Support
1. Subject to the provisions of Article 20 (Government Service):
a) pensions and other similar remuneration derived and beneficially
owned by a resident of a Contracting State in consideration of past
employment by that individual or another individual resident of the same
Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State; and
b) social security benefits and other public pensions paid by a
Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State or a
citizen of the United States shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned
State.
2. Annuities derived and beneficially owned by a resident of a
Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State. The term
"annuities" as used in this paragraph means a stated sum paid periodically
at stated times during a specified number of years, under an obligation to
make the payments in return for adequate and full consideration (other
than services rendered).
3. Alimony paid to a resident of a Contracting State shall be taxable
only in that State. The term "alimony" as used in this paragraph means
periodic payments made pursuant to a written separation agreement or a
decree of divorce, separate maintenance, or compulsory support, which
payments are taxable to the recipient under the laws of the State of which
he is a resident.
4. Nondeductible alimony and periodic payments for the support of a
child made pursuant to a written separation agreement or a decree of
divorce, separate maintenance, or compulsory support, paid by a resident
of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State, shall
not be taxable in that other State.
ARTICLE 20
Government Service
Remuneration, including a pension, paid from the public funds of a
Contracting State or a political subdivision or local authority thereof to
a citizen of that State in respect of services rendered in the discharge
of functions of a governmental nature shall be taxable only in that State.
However, the provisions of Article 14 (Independent Personal Services),
Article 15 (Dependent Personal Services) or Article 18 (Artistes and
Sportsmen), as the case may be, shall apply, and the preceding sentence
shall not apply, to remuneration paid from the public funds of a
Contracting State or a political subdivision or local authority thereof in
respect of services rendered in connection with a business carried on by
that State, political subdivision, or local authority.
ARTICLE 21
Students, Trainees, Teachers, and Researchers
1. a) An individual who is a resident of a Contracting State at the
beginning of his visit to the other Contracting State and who is
temporarily present in that other Contracting State for the primary
purpose of:
i) studying at a university or other accredited educational
institution in that other Contracting State, or
ii) securing training required to qualify him to practice a profession
or professional specialty, or
iii) studying or doing research as a recipient of a grant, allowance,
or award from a governmental, religious, charitable, scientific, literary,
or educational organization, shall be exempt from tax by that other
Contracting State with respect to the amounts described in subparagraph
(b) of this paragraph for a period not exceeding five years from the date
of his arrival in that other Contracting State.
b) The amounts referred to in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph are:
i) payments from abroad, other than compensation for personal
services,for the purpose of his maintenance, education, study, research,
or training;
ii) the grant, allowance, or award; and
iii) income from personal services performed in that other Contracting
State in an aggregate amount not in excess of 5,000 United States dollars
($5,000)or its equivalent in Czech crowns for any taxable year.
2. An individual who is a resident of a Contracting State at the
beginning of his visit to the other Contracting State and who is
temporarily present in that other Contracting State as an employee of, or
under contract with, a resident of the first-mentioned Contracting State,
for the primary purpose of:
a) acquiring technical, professional, or business experience from a
person other than that resident of the first-mentioned Contracting State,
or
b) studying at a university or other accredited educational
institution in that other Contracting State, shall be exempt from tax by
that other Contracting State for a period of 12 consecutive months with
respect to his income from personal services in an aggregate amount not in
excess of 8,000 United States dollars ($8,000) or its equivalent in Czech
crowns.
3. An individual who is a resident of one of the Contracting States at
the time he becomes temporarily present in the other Contracting State and
who is temporarily present in the other Contracting State for a period not
exceeding 1 year, as a participant in a program sponsored by the
Government of that other Contracting State, for the primary purpose of
training, research, or study, shall be exempt from tax by that other
Contracting State with respect to his income from personal services in
respect of such training, research, or study performed in that other
Contracting State in an aggregate amount not in excess of 10,000 United
States dollars ($10,000) or its equivalent in Czech crowns.
4. The competent authorities of the Contracting States may agree to
change the amounts specified in paragraphs l (b) (iii), 2 (b), and 3 of
this Article to reflect significant changes in price levels.
5. An individual who visits a Contracting State for the primary
purpose of teaching or conducting research at a university, college,
school or other accredited educational or research institution in the
other Contracting State, and who is, or immediately before such visit was,
a resident of the other Contracting State shall be exempt from tax in the
first-mentioned Contracting State for a period not exceeding two years in
respect of remuneration for such teaching or research. The benefits
provided in this paragraph shall not be granted to an individual who,
during the immediately preceding period enjoyed the benefits of one of the
preceding paragraphs of this Article. An individual shall be entitled to
the benefits of this paragraph only once.
6. This Article shall not apply to income from research if such
research is undertaken not in the public interest but primarily for the
private benefit of a specific person or persons.
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 Convention shall
be taxable only in that State.
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply to income, other than
income from real property as defined in paragraph 2 of Article 6 (Income
from Real Property (Immovable Property)), if the beneficial owner of the
income, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on or has carried
on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment
situated therein, or performs or has performed in that other
State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein,
and the income is attributable to such permanent establishment or fixed
base. In such case the provisions of Article 7 (Business Profits) or
Article 14 (Independent Personal Services), as the case may be, shall
apply.
ARTICLE 23
Capital
1. Capital represented by real property referred to in Article 6
(Income from Real Property (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 personal (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 personal
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, aircraft and containers owned by a
resident of a Contracting State and operated in international traffic, and
by personal property pertaining to the operation of such ships, aircraft,
and containers 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.
ARTICLE 24
Relief from Double Taxation
1. In accordance with the provisions and subject to the limitations of
the law of the United States (as it may be amended from time to time
without changing the general principle hereof), the United States shall
allow to a resident or citizen of the United States as a credit against
the United States tax on income the income tax paid to the Czech Republic
by or on behalf of such resident or citizen.
2. In the Czech Republic, double taxation will be avoided in the
following manner:
The Czech Republic, when imposing taxes on its residents, may include
in the tax base upon which such taxes are imposed the items of income
which according to the provisions of this Convention may also be taxed in
the United States, but shall allow as a deduction from the amount of tax
computed on such a base an amount equal to the tax paid in the United
States (other than solely on the basis of citizenship). Such deduction
shall not, however, exceed that part of the Czech tax, as computed before
the deduction is given, which is appropriate to the income which, in
accordance with the provisions of this Convention, may be taxed in the
United States (other than solely on the basis of citizenship).
3. In the case of an individual who is a citizen of the United States
and a resident of the Czech Republic, income which may be taxed by the
United States solely by reason of citizenship in accordance with paragraph
3 of Article 1 (General Scope) shall be deemed to arise in the Czech
Republic to the extent necessary to avoid double taxation, provided that
in no event will the tax paid to the United States be less than the tax
that would be paid if the individual were not a citizen of the United
States.
ARTICLE 25
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. This provision shall apply to
persons who are not residents of one or both of the Contracting States.
However, for the purposes of United States taxation, United States
nationals who are subject to tax on a worldwide basis are not in the same
circumstances as Czech nationals who are not residents of the United
States.
2. The term "nationals" means:
a) all individuals possessing the nationality of a Contracting State;
b) all legal persons, partnerships and associations deriving their
status as such from the laws in force in a Contracting State.
3. The taxation on a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a
Contracting State has in the other Contracting State shall not be less
favorably 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 which it grants to its own residents.
4. Nothing in this Article shall be construed as preventing either
Contracting State from imposing a tax as described in paragraph 6 of
Article 10 (Dividends).
5. Except where the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 9 (Associated
Enterprises), paragraph 4 of Article 11 (Interest), or paragraph 5 of
Article 12 (Royalties) apply, interest, royalties, and other disbursements
paid by a resident of a Contracting State to a resident of the other
Contracting State shall, for the purposes of determining the taxable
profits of the firstmentioned resident, be deductible under the same
conditions as if they had been paid to a resident of the first-mentioned
State. Similarly, any debts of a resident of a Contracting State to a
resident of the other Contracting States shall, for the purposes of
determining the taxable capital of the first-mentioned resident, be
deductible under the same conditions as if they had been contracted to a
resident of the first-mentioned State.
6. 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 are or may be subjected.
7. The provisions of this Article shall, notwithstanding the
provisions of Article 2 (Taxes Covered), apply to taxes of every kind and
description imposed by a Contracting State or a political subdivision or
local authority thereof.
ARTICLE 26
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 Convention, 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 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 endeavor, 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 Convention. Any
agreement reached shall be implemented notwithstanding any time limits or
other procedural limitations in the domestic law of the Contracting
States.
3. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall endeavor
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.
ARTICLE 27
Exchange of Information and Administrative Assistance
1. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall exchange
such information as is necessary for carrying out the provisions of this
Convention or of the domestic laws of the Contracting States concerning
taxes covered by the Convention insofar as the taxation thereunder is not
contrary to the Convention. The exchange of information is not restricted
by Article 1 (General Scope). 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)
involved in the assessment, collection, or administration of, the
enforcement or prosecution in respect of, or the determination of appeals
in relation to, the taxes covered by the Convention. 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. 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 and
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 obtain the
information to which the request relates in the same manner and to the
same extent as if the tax of the first-mentioned State were the tax of
that other State and were being imposed by that other State. If
specifically requested by the competent authority of a Contracting State,
the competent authority of the other Contracting State shall provide
information under this Article in the form of depositions of witnesses and
authenticated copies of unedited original documents (including books,
papers, statements, records, accounts, and writings), to the same extent
such depositions and documents can be obtained under the laws and
administrative practices of that other State with respect to its own
taxes.
4. For the purposes of this Article, the Convention shall apply,
notwithstanding the provisions of Article 2 (Taxes Covered), to taxes of
every kind imposed by a Contracting State.
ARTICLE 28
Diplomatic Agents and Consular Officers
Nothing in this Convention 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.
ARTICLE 29
Entry into Force
1. This Convention shall be subject to ratification in accordance with
the applicable procedures of each Contracting State and instruments of
ratification shall be exchanged at Washington, D.C. as soon as possible.
2. The Convention shall enter into force upon the exchange of
instruments of ratification and its provisions shall have effect:
a) in respect of taxes withheld at source, for amounts paid or
credited on or after the first day of the second month next following the
date on which the Convention enters into force;
b) in respect of other taxes, for taxable periods beginning on or
after the first day of January of the year in which the Convention enters
into force.
ARTICLE 30
Termination
1. This Convention shall remain in force until terminated by a
Contracting State. Either Contracting State say terminate the Convention
at any time after 5 years from the date on which the Convention enters
into force, provided that at least 6-months prior notice of termination
has been given through diplomatic channels. In such event, the Convention
shall cease to have effect:
a) in respect of taxes withheld at source, for amounts paid or
credited on or after the first day of January next following the
expiration of the 6-month period;
b) in respect of other taxes, for taxable periods beginning on or
after the first day of January next following the expiration of the
6-month period.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorized thereto,
have signed this Convention.
DONE at Prague, in duplicate, in the English and Czech languages, both
texts being equally authentic, this Sixteenth day of September, 1993.
FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FOR THE CZECH REPUBLIC:
(s) Adrian A. Basora (s) Ivan Kocarnik