DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY TECHNICAL EXPLANATION OF THE CONVENTION BETWEEN
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE REPUBLIC OF ESTONIA FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION AND THE PREVENTION OF FISCAL E
颁布时间:1998-01-15
ARTICLE 13
Capital Gains
Article 13 assigns either primary or exclusive taxing jurisdiction
over gains from the alienation of property to the State of residence or
the State of source and defines the terms necessary to apply the Article.
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1 of Article 13 preserves the non-exclusive right of the
State of source to gains attributable to the alienation of real property
situated in that State. The paragraph therefore permits the United States
to apply section 897 of the Code to tax gains derived by a resident
Estonia that are attributable to the alienation of real property situated
in the United States defined in paragraph 2). Gains attributable to the
alienation of real property include gain from any other property that is
treated as a real property interest within the meaning of paragraph
Although Estonia uses the term "immovable property", it is to be
understood from the parenthetical use of the term "real" that the two
terms are synonymous.
Paragraph 2
This paragraph defines the term "immovable (real) property situated in
the other Contracting State," gains from which are subject to the rule of
paragraph 1. The term includes real property referred to in Article 6
(i.e., an interest in the real property itself), and a "United States real
property interest" when the United States is the other Contracting State
under paragraph 1. It also includes shares of stock of a company the
property of which consists at least 50 percent of immovable (real)
property situated in that other State, and an interest in a partnership,
trust or estate to the extent that its assets consist of immovable (real)
property situated in that other State. The OECD Model does not refer to
real property interests other than the real property itself, and the
United States has entered a reservation on this point with respect to the
OECD Model, reserving the right to apply its tax under FIRPTA to all real
estate gains encompassed by that provision.
Under section 897(c) of the Code the term "United States real property
interest" includes shares in a U.S. corporation that owns sufficient U.S.
real property interests to satisfy an assetratio test on certain testing
dates. The term also includes certain foreign corporations that have
elected to be treated as U.S. corporations for this purpose. Section
897(i). In applying paragraph 1 the United States will look through
distributions made by a REIT. Accordingly, distributions made by a REIT
are taxable under paragraph 1 of Article 13 (not under Article 10
(Dividends)) when they are attributable to gains derived from the
alienation of real property.
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3 of Article 13 deals with the taxation of certain gains
from the alienation of personal (movable) property forming part of the
business property of a permanent establishment that an enterprise of a
Contracting State has in the other Contracting State or of 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. This also includes gains from
the alienation of such a permanent establishment (alone or with the whole
enterprise) or of such fixed base. Such gains may be taxed in the State in
which the permanent establishment or fixed base is located. Although
Estonia uses the term "movable property", and the United States uses
the term "personal property" it is understood that the two terms are
synonymous.
A resident of Estonia that is a partner in a partnership doing
business in the United States generally will have a permanent
establishment in the United States as a result of the activities of
the partnership, assuming that the activities of the partnership rise to
the level of a permanent establishment. Rev. Rul. 91-32, 1991-1 C.B. 107.
Further, under paragraph 3, the United States generally may tax a
partner's distributive share of income realized by a partnership on the
disposition of movable property forming part of the business property of
the partnership in the United States.
Paragraph 4
This paragraph limits the taxing jurisdiction of the state of source
with respect to gains derived by an enterprise of a Contracting State that
operates ships or aircraft in international traffic from the alienation of
ships, aircraft, or containers operated in international traffic or
movable property pertaining to the operation of such ships, aircraft, or
containers. Under paragraph 4, when such income is derived by an
enterprise of a Contracting State it is taxable only in that Contracting
State. Notwithstanding paragraph 3, these rules apply even if the income
is attributable to a permanent establishment maintained by the enterprise
in the other Contracting State.
However, if the gains from alienation of ships, aircraft or containers
is not derived by an enterprise of a Contracting State that operates ships
or aircraft in international traffic, then such gains are taxable in the
source state as well. An example of such gains taxable in the source state
is income derived from the alienation of ships, aircraft or containers
owned by a bank that does not itself operate the equipment but instead
leases the equipment to an operator.
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5 makes it clear that the taxing rules of this Article do
not apply to the alienation of any right or property that would give rise
to royalties, to the extent the gain is contingent on the productivity,
use, or further alienation thereof. Such amounts may be taxed in
accordance with Article 12 (Royalties) as described in the explanation of
paragraph 3 of Article 12.
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6 grants to the State of residence of the alienator the
exclusive right to tax gains from the alienation of property other than
property referred to in paragraphs 1 through 5. For example, gain derived
from shares, other than shares described in paragraphs 2 or 3, debt
instruments and various financial instruments, may be taxed only in the
State of residence, to the extent such income is not otherwise
characterized as income taxable under another article (e.g.,
Article 10 (Dividends) or Article 11 (Interest)). Similarly gain derived
from the alienation of movable property, other than movable property
described in paragraph 3, may be taxed only in the State of residence of
the alienator. Sales by a resident of a Contracting State of real property
located in a third state are not taxable in the other Contracting State,
even if the sale is attributable to a permanent establishment located in
the other Contracting State.
Relation to Other Articles
Notwithstanding the foregoing limitations on taxation of certain gains
by the State of source, the saving clause of paragraph 4 of Article 1
(General Scope) permits the United States to tax its citizens and
residents as if the Convention had not come into effect. Thus, any
limitation in this Article on the right of the United States to tax gains
does not apply to gains of a U.S. citizens or resident. The benefits of
this Article are also subject to the provisions of Article 22 (Limitation
on Benefits). Thus, only a resident of a Contracting State that satisfies
one of the conditions in Article 22 is entitled to the benefits of this
Article.
ARTICLE 14
Independent Personal Services
The Convention deals in separate articles with different classes of
income from personal services. Article 14 deals with the general class of
income from independent personal services and Article 15 deals with the
general class of income from dependent personal services. Articles
16 through 20 provide exceptions and additions to these general rules for
directors' fees (Article 16); performance income of artistes and sportsmen
(Article 17); pensions in respect of personal service income, social
security benefits, annuities, alimony, and child support payments (Article
18); government service salaries and pensions (Article 19); and certain
income of students, trainees and researchers (Article 20).
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1 of Article 14 provides the general rule that an individual
who is a resident of a Contracting State and who derives income from
performing personal services in an independent capacity will be exempt
from tax in respect of that income by the other Contracting State. The
income may be taxed in the other Contracting State only if the services
are performed there and the income is attributable to a fixed base that is
regularly available to the individual in that other State for the purpose
of performing his services.
There is an additional rule in Article 14, which is not in the U.S. or
OECD Models. Under this provision, if an individual who is a resident of
one Contracting State is present in the other Contracting State for a
period or periods aggregating more than 183 days in a 12-month
period beginning or ending in the fiscal year concerned, that individual
is treated as having a fixed base regularly available to him in that
State. All income that the individual derives from services performed in
that State will be attributed to that fixed base, if the fixed base is
present because of the application of the 183-day rule.
The 183-day period in this Article is to be measured using the "days
of physical presence" method. Under this method, the days that are counted
include any day in which a part of the day is spent in the host country.
(Rev. Rul. 56-24, 1956-1 C.B. 851.) Thus, days that are counted include
the days of arrival and departure; weekends and holidays on which the
employee does not work but is present within the country; vacation days
spent in the country before, during or after the employment period, unless
the individual's presence before or after the employment can be shown to
be independent of his presence there for employment purposes; and time
during periods of sickness, training periods, strikes, etc., when the
individual is present but not working.If illness prevented the individual
from leaving the country in sufficient time to qualify for the
benefit, those days will not count. Also, any part of a day spent in the
host country while in transit between two points outside the host country
is not counted. These rules are consistent with the description of the
183-day period in paragraph 5 of the Commentary to Article 15 in the
OECD Model.
Income derived by persons other than individuals or groups of
individuals from the performance of independent personal services is not
covered by Article 14. Such income generally would be business profits
taxable in accordance with Article 7 (Business Profits).Income derived by
employees of such persons generally would be taxable in accordance with
Article 15 (Dependent Personal Services).
The term "fixed base" is not defined in the Convention, but, except
for the 183-day rule in this Convention, its meaning is understood to be
similar, but not identical, to that of the term "permanent establishment,"
as defined in Article 5 (Permanent Establishment). The term "regularly
available" also is not defined in the Convention. Whether a fixed base is
regularly available to a person will be determined based on all the facts
and circumstances. In general, the term encompasses situations where a
fixed base is at the disposal of the individual whenever he performs
services in that State. It is not necessary that the individual regularly
use the fixed base, only that the fixed base be regularly available to
him. For example, a U.S. resident partner in a law firm that had offices
in Estonia would be considered to have a fixed base regularly available
to him in Estonia if the law firm had an office there that was available
to him whenever he wished to conduct business in Estonia, regardless of
how frequently he conducted business . there. On the other hand, an
individual who had no office in the other State and occasionally rented a
hotel room to serve as a temporary office would not be considered to have
a fixed base regularly available to him.
The taxing right conferred by this Article with respect to income from
independent personal services can, in one respect, be more limited than
that provided in Article 7 for the taxation of business profits, although,
as described above, it may also be broader in other respects. In both
articles the income of a resident of one Contracting State must be
attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base in the other State
in order for that other State to have a taxing right. In Article 14 the
income also must be attributable to services performed in that other
State, while Article 7 does not require that all of the income generating
activities be performed in the State where the permanent establishment is
located.
This Article applies to income derived by a partner resident in
the Contracting State that is attributable to personal services of an
independent character performed in the other State through a partnership
that has a fixed base in that other Contracting State. Income which may be
taxed under this Article includes all income attributable to the fixed
base in respect of the performance of the personal services carried on by
the partnership (whether by the partner himself, other partners in the
partnership, or by employees assisting the partners) and any income
from activities ancillary to the performance of those services (for
example, charges for facsimile services). Income that is not derived from
the performance of personal services and that is not ancillary thereto
(for example, rental income from subletting office space), will be
governed by other Articles of the Convention.
The application of Article 14 to a service partnership may be
illustrated by the following example: a partnership formed in the
Contracting State has five partners (who agree to split profits equally),
four of whom are resident and perform personal services only in the
Contracting State at Office A, and one of whom performs personal services
from Office B, a fixed base in the other State. In this case, the four
partners of the partnership resident in the Contracting State may
be taxed in the other State in respect of their share of the income
attributable to the fixed base, Office B. The services giving rise to
income which may be attributed to the fixed base would include not only
the services performed by the one resident partner, but also, for example,
if one of the four other partners came to the other State and worked on an
Office B matter there, the income in respect of those services also. As
noted above, this would be the case regardless of whether the partner from
the Contracting State actually visited or used Office B when performing
services in the other State.
Paragraph 9 of Article 7 (Business Profits) refers to Article 14. That
rule clarifies that income that is attributable to a permanent
establishment or a fixed base, but that is deferred and received after the
permanent establishment or fixed base no longer exists, may nevertheless
be taxed by the State in which the permanent establishment or fixed base
was located. Thus, under Article 14, income derived by an individual
resident of a Contracting State from services performed in the other
Contracting State and attributable to a fixed base there may be taxed by
that other State even if the income is deferred and received after there
is no longer a fixed base available to the resident in that other State.
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2 of Article 14 provides that the income that is taxable in
the Contracting State where the fixed base is located is to be determined
in the same way as income from professional services or other activities
of an independent character is determined for a resident of that State.
It is understood that both Contracting States tax such income on a net
income basis. Thus, all relevant expenses, including expenses not incurred
in the Contracting State where the fixed base is located, must be allowed
as deductions in computing the net income from services subject to
tax in the Contracting State where the fixed base is located. Paragraph 2
does not require either Contracting State to grant residents of the other
Contracting State any personal allowances, reliefs and reductions for
taxation purposes on account of civil status or family responsibilities
that it grants to its own residents.
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3 notes that the term "professional services" includes
independent scientific, literary, artistic, educational or teaching
activities, as well as the independent activities of physicians, lawyers,
engineers, architects, dentists, and accountants. This list, which is
derived from the OECD Model, is not exhaustive. The term includes all
personal services performed by an individual for his own account, where he
receives the income and bears the risk of loss arising from the services.
The taxation of income from the types of independent services that are
covered by Articles 16 and 18 through 21 is governed by the provisions of
those articles. For example, taxation of the income of a corporate
director would be governed by Article 16 (Directors' Fees) rather than
Article 14.
Relation to Other Articles
If an individual resident of the other Contracting State who is also a
U.S. citizen performs independent personal services in the United States,
the United States may, by virtue of the saving clause of paragraph 4 of
Article 1 (General Scope) tax his income without regard to the
restrictions of this Article.