The Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of India, desiring to conclude a Convention for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, have agreed as follows: ARTICLE 1 General Scope 　　1. This Convention shall apply to persons who are residents of one or both of the Contracting States, except as otherwise provided in the Convention. 　　2. The Convention shall not restrict in any manner any exclusion, exemption, deduction, credit, or other allowance now or here after accorded: 　　(a) by the laws of either Contracting State; or 　　(b) by any other agreement between the Contracting States; or 　　3. Notwithstanding any provision of the Convention except paragraph 4, a Contracting State may tax its residents (as determined under Article 4 (Residence)), and by reason of citizenship may tax its citizens, as if the Convention had not come into effect. For this purpose, the term "citizen" shall include a former citizen whose loss of citizenship had as one of its principal purposes the avoidance of tax, but only for a period of 10 years following such loss. 　　4. The provisions of paragraph 3 shall not affect 　　(a) the benefits conferred by a Contracting State under paragraph 2 of Article 9 (Associated Enterprises), under paragraphs 2 and 6 of Article 20 (Private Pensions, Annuities, Alimony, and Child Support), and under Articles 25 (Relief from Double Taxation), 26 (Nondiscrimination), and 27 (Mutual Agreement Procedure); and 　　(b) the benefits conferred by a Contracting State under Articles 19 (Remuneration and Pensions in Respect of Government Service), 21 (Payments Received by Students and Apprentices), 22 (Payments Received by Professors, Teachers and Research Scholars) and 29 (Diplomatic Agents and Consul Officers), upon individuals who are neither citizens of, nor have immigrant status in, that State. ARTICLE 2 Taxes Covered 　　1. The existing taxes to which this Convention shall apply are: 　　(a) in the United States, the Federal income taxes imposed by the Internal Revenue Code (but excluding the accumulated earnings tax, the personal holding company tax, and social security taxes), and the excise taxes imposed on insurance premiums paid to foreign insurers and with respect to private foundations (hereinafter referred to as "United States tax"); provided, however, the Convention shall apply to the excise taxes imposed on insurance premiums paid to foreign insurers only to the extent that the risks covered by such premiums are not reinsured with a person not entitled to exemption from such taxes under this or any other Convention which applies to these taxes; and 　　(b) in India: 　　(i) the income tax including any surcharge thereon, but excluding income tax on undistributed income of companies, imposed under the Income-tax Act; and 　　(ii) the surtax (hereinafter referred to as "Indian tax"). Taxes referred to in (a) and (b) above shall not include any amount payable in respect of any default or omission in relation to the above taxes or which represent a penalty imposed relating to those taxes. 2. The Convention shall apply also to any identical or substantially similar taxes which are imposed after the date of signature of the Convention in addition to, or in place of, the existing taxes. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall notify each other of any significant changes which have been made in their respective taxation laws and of any official published material concerning the application of the Convention. ARTICLE 3 General Definitions 　　1. In this Convention, unless the context otherwise requires: 　　(a) the term "India" means the territory of India and includes the territorial sea and airspace above it, as well as any other maritime zone in which India has sovereign rights, other rights and jurisdictions, according to the Indian law and in accordance with international law; 　　(b) the term "United States", when used in a geographical sense means all the territory of the United States of America, including its territorial sea, in which the laws relating to United States tax are in force, and all the area beyond its territorial sea, including the seabed and subsoil thereof, over which the United States has jurisdiction in accordance with international law and in which the laws relating to United States tax are in force; 　　(c) the terms "a Contracting State" and "the other Contracting State" mean India or the United States as the context requires; 　　(d) the term "tax" means Indian tax or United States tax, as the context requires; 　　(e) the term "person" includes an individual, an estate, a trust, a partnership, a company, any other body of persons, or other taxable entity; 　　(f) the term "company" means any body corporate or any entity which is treated as a company or body corporate 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, in the case of India, the Central Government in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) or their authorized representative, and in the case of the United States, the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate; 　　(i) the term "national" means any individual possessing the nationality or citizenship of a Contracting State; 　　(j) 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 within the other Contracting State; 　　(k) the term "taxable year" in relation to Indian Tax means "previous year" as defined in the Income-tax Act, 1961. 　　2. As regards the application of the Convention by a Contracting State any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires or the competent authorities agree to a common meaning pursuant to the provisions of Article 27 (Mutual Agreement Procedure), have the meaning which it has under the laws of that State concerning the taxes to which the Convention applies. ARTICLE 4 Residence 　　1. For the purposes of this Convention, the "resident of a Contracting State" means any person who, under the laws of that State, is liable to tax therein by reason of his domicile, residence, citizenship, place of management, place of incorporation, or any other criterion of a similar nature, provided, however, that 　　(a) this term does not include any person who is liable to tax in that State in respect only of income from sources in that State; and 　　(b) in the case of income derived or paid by a partnership, estate, or trust, this term applies only to the extent that the income derived by such partnership, estate, or trust is subject to tax in that State as the income of a resident, either in its hands or in the hands of its partners or beneficiaries. 　　2. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1, an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then his status shall be determined as follows: 　　(a) he shall be deemed to be a resident of the State in which he has a permanent home available to him; if he has a permanent home available to him in both States, he shall be deemed to be a resident of the State with which his personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests); 　　(b) if the State in which he has his centre of vital interests cannot be determined, or if he does not have a permanent home available to him in either State, he shall be deemed to be a resident of the 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 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 paragraph 1, a company is a resident of both Contracting States, such company shall be considered to be outside the scope of this Convention except for purposes of paragraph 2 of Article 10 (Dividends), Article 26 (Non-discrimination), Article 27 (Mutual Agreement Procedure), Article 28 (Exchange of Information and Administrative Assistance) and Article 30 (Entry Into Force). 　　4. Where, by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1, a person other than an individual or a company is a resident of both Contracting States, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall settle the question by mutual agreement and determine the mode of application of the Convention to such person. ARTICLE 5 Permanent Establishment 　　1. For the purposes of this Convention, 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; 　　(f) a mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry, or any other place of extraction of natural resources; 　　(g) a warehouse, in relation to a person providing storage facilities for others; 　　(h) a farm, plantation or other place where agriculture, forestry, plantation or related activities are carried on; 　　(i) a store or premises used as a sales outlet; 　　(j) an installation or structure used for the exploration or exploitation of natural resources, but only if so used for a period of more than 120 days in any twelve month period; 　　(k) 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, if any) continue for a period of more than 120 days in any twelve month period; 　　(l) the furnishing of services, other than included services as defined in Article 12 (Royalties and Fees for Included Services), within a Contracting State by an enterprise through employees or other personnel, but only if: 　　(i) activities of that nature continue within that State for a period or periods aggregating more than 90 days within any twelve month period; or 　　(ii) the services are performed within that State for a related enterprise (within the meaning of paragraph 1 of Article 9 (Associated Enterprises)). 　　3. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, the term "permanent establishment" shall be deemed not to include any one or more of the following: 　　(a) the use of facilities solely for the purpose of storage, display, or occasional delivery of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise; 　　(b) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of storage, display, or occasional delivery; 　　(c) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of processing by another enterprise; 　　(d) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of purchasing goods or merchandise, or of collecting information, for the enterprise; 　　(e) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of advertising, for the supply of information, for scientific research or for other activities which have a preparatory or auxiliary character, for the enterprise. 　　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 in a Contracting 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 State if: 　　(a) he has an habitually exercises in the first-mentioned State an authority to conclude contracts on behalf of the enterprise, unless his activities are limited to those mentioned in paragraph 3 which, if exercised through a fixed place of business, would not make that fixed place of business a permanent establishment under the provisions of that paragraph; 　　(b) he 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, and some additional activities conducted in that State on behalf of the enterprise have contributed to the sale of the goods or merchandise; or 　　(c) he habitually secures orders in the first-mentioned State, wholly or almost wholly for the enterprise. 　　5. An enterprise of a Contracting State shall not be deemed to have a permanent establishment in the other Contracting State merely because it carries on business in that other State through a broker, general commission agent, or any other agent of an independent status, provided that such persons are acting in the ordinary course of their business. However, when the activities of such an agent are devoted wholly or almost wholly on behalf of that enterprise and the transactions between the agent and the enterprise are not made under arm's-length conditions, he shall not be considered an agent of 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 that other State (whether through a permanent establishment or otherwise), shall not of itself constitute either company a permanent establishment of the other. ARTICLE 6 Income from Immovable Property (Real Property) 　　1. Income derived by a resident of a Contracting State from immovable property (real property), including income from agriculture or forestry, situated in the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State. 　　2. The term "immovable property" shall have the meaning which it has under the law of the Contracting State in which the property in question is situated. 　　3. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall also 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 also apply to the income from immovable property of an enterprise and 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 be taxed in the other State but only so much of them as is attributable to 　　(a) that permanent establishment; 　　(b) sales in the other State of goods or merchandise of the same or similar kind as those sold through that permanent establishment; or 　　(c) other business activities carried on in the other State of the same or similar kind as those effected through 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 independent enterprise engaged in the same or similar activities under the same or similar conditions and dealing wholly at arm's-length with the enterprise of which it is a permanent establishment and other enterprises controlling, controlled by or subject to the same common control as that enterprise. In any case where the correct amount of profits attributable to a permanent establishment is incapable of determination or the determination thereof presents exceptional difficulties, the profits attributable to the permanent establishment may be estimated on a reasonable basis. The estimate adopted shall, however, be such that the result shall be in accordance with the principles contained in this Article. 　　3. In the determination of the profits of a permanent establishment, there shall be allowed as deductions, expenses which are incurred for the purposes of the business of the permanent establishment, including a reasonable allocation of executive and general administrative expenses, research and development expenses, interest, and other expenses incurred for the purposes of the enterprise as a whole (or the part thereof which includes the permanent establishment), whether incurred in the State in which the permanent establishment is situated or elsewhere, in accordance with the provisions of and subject to the limitations of the taxation laws of that State. However, no such deduction shall be allowed in respect of amounts, if any, paid (otherwise than toward 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, know-how or other rights, or by way of commission or other charges for specific services performed or for management, or, except in the case of banking enterprises, by way of interest on moneys lent to the permanent establishment. Likewise, no account shall be taken, in the determination of the profits of a permanent establishment, for amounts charged (otherwise than toward 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, know-how 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 head office of the enterprise or any of its other offices. 　　4. No profits shall be attributed to a permanent establishment by reason of the mere purchase by that permanent establishment of goods or merchandise for the enterprise. 　　5. For the purposes of this Convention, the profits to be attributed to the permanent establishment as provided in paragraph 1(a) of this Article shall include only the profits derived from the assets and activities of the permanent establishment and shall be determined by the same method year by year unless there is good and sufficient reason to the contrary. 　　6. Where profits include items of income which are dealt with separately in other Articles of the Convention, then the provisions of those Articles shall not be affected by the provisions of this Article. 　　7. For the purposes of the Convention, the term "business profits" means income derived from any trade or business including income from the furnishing of services other than included services as defined in Article 12 (Royalties and Fees for Included Services) and including income from the rental of tangible personal property other than property described in paragraph 3(b) of Article 12 (Royalties and Fees for Included Services). ARTICLE 8 Shipping and Air Transport 　　1. Profits derived by an enterprise of a Contracting State from the operation by that enterprise of ships or aircraft in international traffic shall be taxable only in that State. 　　2. For the purposes of this Article, profits from the operation of ships or aircraft in international traffic shall mean profits 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- 　　(a) the sale of tickets for such transportation on behalf of other enterprises; 　　(b) other activity directly connected with such transportation; and 　　(c) the rental of ships or aircraft incidental to any activity directly connected with such transportation. 　　3. Profits of an enterprise of a Contracting State described in paragraph 1 from the use, maintenance, or rental of containers (including trailers, barges, and related equipment for the transport of containers) used in connection with the operation of ships or aircraft in international traffic shall be taxable only in that State. 　　4. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 3 shall also apply to profits from participation in a pool, a joint business, or an international operating agency. 　　5. For the purposes of this Article, interest on funds 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, and the provisions of Article 11 (Interest) shall not apply in relation to such interest. 　　6. Gains derived by an enterprise of a Contracting State described in paragraph 1 from the alienation of ships, aircraft or containers owned and operated by the enterprise, the income from which is taxable only in that State, shall be taxed only in that State. 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 Contracting State; or 　　(b) the same persons participate directly or indirectly in the management, control, or capital of an enterprise of a Contracting State and an enterprise of the other Contracting State, and in either case conditions are made or imposed between the two enterprises in their commercial or financial relations which differ from those which would be made between independent enterprises, then any profits which, but for those conditions would have accrued to one of the enterprises, but by reason of those conditions have not so accrued, may be included in the profits of that enterprise and taxed accordingly. 　　2. Where a Contracting State includes in the profits of an enterprise of that State, and taxes accordingly, profits on which an enterprise of the other Contracting State has been charged to tax in that other State, and the profits so included are profits which would have accrued to the enterprise of the first-mentioned State if the conditions made between the two enterprises had been those which would have been made between independent enterprises, then that other State shall make an appropriate adjustment to the amount of the tax charged therein on those profits. In determining such adjusting due regard shall be had to the other provisions of this Convention and the competent authorities of the Contracting State shall if necessary consult each other. ARTICLE 10 Dividends 　　1. Dividends paid by a company which is a resident of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State. 　　2. However, such dividends may also be taxed in the Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident, and according to the laws of the State, but if the beneficial owner of the dividends is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed: 　　(a) 15 percent of the gross amount of the dividends if the beneficial owner is a company which owns at least 10 percent of the voting stock of the company paying the dividends; 　　(b) 25 percent of the gross amount of the dividends in all other cases. Subparagraph (b) and not subparagraph (a) shall apply in the case of dividends paid by a United States person which is a Regulated Investment Company. Subparagraph (a) shall not apply to dividends paid by a United States person which is a Real Estate Investment Trust, and subparagraph (b) shall only apply if the dividend is beneficially owned by an individual holding a less than 10 percent interest in the Real Estate Investment Trust. This paragraph shall not effect the taxation of the company in respect of the profits out of which the dividends are paid. 　　3. The term "dividends" as used in this Article means income from shares or other rights not being debt-claims, participating in profits, income from other corporate rights which are subjected to the same taxation treatment as income from shares by the taxation laws of the State of which the company making the distribution is a resident; and income from arrangements, including debt obligations, carrying the right to participate in profits, to the extent so characterized under the laws of the Contracting State in which the income arises. 　　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 based situated therein, and the dividends are attributable to such permanent establishment or fixed base. In such case the provisions of Article 7 (Business Profits) or Article 15 (Independent Personal Services), 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 such other State. ARTICLE 11 Interest 　　1. Interest 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 interest may also be taxed in the Contracting State in which it arises, and according to the laws of that State, but if the beneficial owner of the interest is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed: 　　(a) 10 percent of the gross amount of the interest if such interest is paid on a loan granted by a bank carrying on a bona fide banking business or by a similar financial institution (including an insurance company); and 　　(b) 15 percent of the gross amount of the interest in all other cases. 　　3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article, interest arising in a Contracting State: 　　(a) and derived and beneficially owned by the Government of the other Contracting State, a political subdivision or local authority thereof, the Reserve Bank of India, or the Federal Reserve Banks of the United States, as the case may be, and such other institutions of either Contracting State as the competent authorities may agree pursuant to Article 27 (Mutual Agreement Procedure); 　　(b) with respect to loans or credits extended or endorsed 　　(i) by the Export-Import Bank of the United States, when India is the firstmentioned Contracting State; and 　　(ii) by the EXIM Bank of India, when the United States is the first-mentioned Contracting State; and 　　(c) to the extent approved by the Government of that State, and derived and beneficially owned by any person, other than a person referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (b), who is a resident of the other Contracting State, provided that the transaction giving rise to the debtclaim has been approved in this behalf by the Government of the first-mentioned Contracting State; shall be exempt from tax in the first-mentioned Contracting State. 　　4. The term "interest" as used in this Convention means income from debt-claims of every kind, whether or not secured by mortgage, and whether or not carrying a right to participate in the debtor's profits, and in particular, income from government securities, and income from bonds or debentures, including premiums or prizes attaching to such securities, bonds, or debentures. Penalty charges for late payment shall not be regarded as interest for the purposes of the Convention. However, the term "interest" does not include income dealt with in Article 10 (Dividends). 　　5. The provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the interest, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State in which the interest arises, through a permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein, and the interest is attributable to such permanent establishment or fixed base. In such case the provisions of Article 7 (Business Profits) or Article 15 (Independent Personal Services), 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 or a political subdivision, local authority, or 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, 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 debtclaim 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 the Convention.