The Government of the United States of America and the Government of Ireland, desiring to conclude a convention for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and capital gains have agreed as follows: ARTICLE 1 General Scope 　　1. This Convention shall apply only to persons who are residents of one or both of the Contracting States, except as otherwise provided in the Convention. 　　2. This Convention shall not restrict in any manner any benefit now or hereafter accorded: 　　a) by the laws of either Contracting State; or 　　b) by any other agreement between the Contracting States. 　　3. a) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph 2 b): 　　i) the provisions or Article 25 (Mutual Agreement Procedure) of this Convention exclusively shall apply to any dispute concerning whether a measure is within the scope of this Convention, and the procedures under this Convention exclusively shall apply to that dispute, notwithstanding any other agreement to which both Contracting States may be parties; and 　　ii) unless the competent authorities determine that a taxation measure is not within the scope of this Convention, the non-discrimination obligations of this Convention exclusively shall apply with respect to that measure, except for such national treatment or most-favoured-nation obligations as may apply to trade in goods under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. No national treatment or most-favourednation obligation under any other agreement shall apply with respect to that measure. 　　b) For the purpose of this paragraph, a "measure" is a law, regulation, rule, procedure, decision, administrative action, or any similar provision or action. 　　4. Notwithstanding any provision of the Convention, 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. 　　5. The provisions of paragraph 4 shall not affect: 　　a) the benefits conferred by a Contracting State under paragraph 2 of Article 9 (Associated Enterprises), paragraph 2 of Article 16 (Directors' Fees), paragraphs 1 (b) and 4 of Article 18 (Pensions, Social Security, Annuities, Alimony and Child Support), and Articles 24 (Relief From Double Taxation), 25 (Non-Discrimination), and 26 (Mutual Agreement Procedure); and 　　b) the benefits conferred by a Contracting State under paragraph 5 of Article 18 (Pensions, Social Security, Annuities, Alimony and Child Support), Articles 19 (Government Service), 20 (Students and Trainees) and 28 (Diplomatic Agents and Consular Officers), upon individuals who are neither citizens of, nor have been admitted for permanent residence 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 of 1986 (but excluding the accumulated earnings tax, the personal holding company tax and social security taxes), and the Federal excise taxes imposed on insurance premiums paid to foreign insurers and with respect to private foundations (hereinafter referred to as "United States tax"). The Convention shall, however, apply to the Federal 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 the benefits of this or any other convention which provides exemption from these taxes; and 　　b) in Ireland: the income tax, the corporation tax and the capital gains tax (hereinafter referred to as "Irish tax"). 　　2. This Convention shall apply also to any identical or substantially similar taxes that 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 that have been made in their respective taxation laws and of any official published material concerning the application of the Convention, including explanations, regulations, rulings, or judicial decisions. ARTICLE 3 General Definitions 　　1. For the purposes of this Convention, unless the context otherwise requires: 　　a) the term "person" includes an individual, an estate, a trust, a partnership, a company and any other body of persons; 　　b) the term "company" means any body corporate or any entity which is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes; 　　c) the terms "enterprise of a Contracting States" 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; 　　d) the term "international traffic" means any transport by a ship or aircraft, except when such transport is solely between places in a Contracting State; 　　e) the term "competent authority" means: 　　i) in the United States: the Secretary of the Treasury or his delegate; and 　　ii) in Ireland: the Revenue Commissioners or their authorized representative; 　　f) the term "United States" means the United States of America, and includes the states thereof and the District at Columbia; such term also includes any area outside the territorial waters of the United States which, in accordance with international law, has been or may hereafter be designated under the laws of the United States concerning the Continental Shelf as an area within which the rights of the United States with respect to the sea bed and subsoil and their natural resources may be exercised; the term, however, does not include Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam or any other United States possession or territory; 　　g) the term "Ireland" includes any area outside the territorial waters of Ireland which, in accordance with international law, has been or may hereafter be designated under the laws of Ireland concerning the Continental Shelf as an area within which the rights of Ireland with respect to the sea bed and subsoil and their natural resources may be exercised; 　　h) the terms "the Contracting State", "one of the Contracting States" and "the other Contracting State" mean Ireland or the United States, as the context requires; and the term "Contracting States" means Ireland and the United States; 　　i) the term "national" in relation to a Contracting State, means any citizen of that State and any legal person, association or other entity deriving its status as such from the laws in force in that State; 　　j) the term "qualified governmental entity" means: 　　i) any person that constitutes the Government or a Department of Government of a Contracting State, or a political subdivision or local authority of a Contracting State; 　　ii) a person that is wholly owned, or the beneficial interest of which is wholly owned, directly or indirectly, by a Contracting State or a political subdivision or local authority of a Contracting State, provided 　　(A) it is organized under the laws of the Contracting State, 　　(B) its earnings are credited to its own account and 　　(C) its assets vest in the Contracting State, political subdivision or local authority upon its dissolution; and 　　iii) a pension, trust or fund of a person described in subparagraph i) or ii) that is constituted and operated exclusively to administer or provide pension benefits described in Article 19 (Government Service), provided the income of the entity does not inure to the benefit of a private person and the entity does not carry on commercial activity. 　　2. As regards the application of the Convention at any time 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 26 (Mutual Agreement Procedure), have the meaning that it has at that time under the law of that State for the purposes of the taxes to which the Convention applies. ARTICLE 4 Residence 　　1. For the purposes of this Convention the term "resident of a Contracting State" means 　　a) any person who, under the laws of that State, is liable to tax therein by reason of his domicile, residence, place of management, place of incorporation, or any other criterion of a similar nature. A United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States is a resident of the United States, but only if such person has a substantial presence, permanent home or habitual abode in the United States; 　　b) a qualified governmental entity of that State; 　　c) a pension trust and any other organization established in that State and maintained exclusively to administer or provide retirement or employee benefits that is established or sponsored by a person that is otherwise a resident under Article 4 (Residence); and any charitable or other exempt organization, provided that the use of the organization's assets, both currently and upon the dissolution or liquidation of such organization, is limited to the accomplishment of the purposes that serve as the basis for such organization's exemption from income tax; 　　d) in the case of the United States, a Regulated Investment Company and a Real Estate Investment Trust; in the case of Ireland, a Collective Investment Undertaking; and any similar investment entities agreed upon by the competent authorities of both Contracting States. 　　2. The term "resident of a Contracting State" does not include any person who is liable to tax in that State in respect only of income from sources in that State or of profits attributable to a permanent establishment in that State. 　　3. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph l, 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 that 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. 　　4. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1 a person other than an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall endeavour by mutual agreement to deem, for purposes of the Convention, the person to be a resident of one Contracting State only. 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; and 　　f) a mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry, or any other place of extraction of natural resources. 　　3. A building site or construction or installation project constitutes a permanent establishment only if it lasts more than twelve months. 　　4. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this article, the term "permanent establishment" shall be deemed not to include: 　　a) the use of facilities solely for the purpose of storage, display, or 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 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 carrying on, for the enterprise, any other activity of a preparatory or auxiliary character; 　　f) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for any combination of the activities mentioned in subparagraphs a) to e), provided that the overall activity of the fixed place of business resulting from this combination is of a preparatory or auxiliary character. 　　5. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, where a person - other than an agent of an independent status to which paragraph 6 applies - is acting on behalf of an enterprise and has, and habitually exercises, in a Contracting State an authority to conclude contracts in the name of the enterprise, that enterprise shall be deemed to have a permanent establishment in that State in respect of any activities which that person undertakes for the enterprise, unless the activities of such person are limited to those mentioned in paragraph 4 which, if exercised through a fixed place of business, would not make this fixed place of business a permanent establishment under the provisions of that paragraph. 　　6. An enterprise shall not be deemed to have a permanent establishment in a Contracting State merely because it carries on business in that 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 as independent agents. 　　7. 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 Removable (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 (real 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 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 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 that it might be expected to make if it were a distinct and separate enterprise engaged in the same or similar activities under the same or similar conditions and dealing wholly independently with the enterprise of which it is a permanent establishment. 　　3. In determining the profits of a permanent establishment, there shall be allowed as deductions expenses that are incurred for the purposes 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. 　　4. Notwithstanding paragraph 6 below, insofar as it has been customary in a Contracting State to determine the profits to be attributed to a permanent establishment on the basis of an apportionment of the total profits of the enterprise to its various parts, nothing in paragraph 2 shall preclude that Contracting State from determining the profits to be taxed by such an apportionment as may be customary; the method of apportionment adopted shall, however, be such that the result shall be in accordance with the principles contained in this Article. 　　5. 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. 　　6. For the purposes of this Article, the profits to be attributed to the permanent establishment shall include only the profits derived from the assets or activities of the permanent establishment and shall be determined by the same method of accounting year by year unless there is good and sufficient reason to the contrary. 　　7. The term "profits" as used in this Article includes income from the performance of personal services by an enterprise and income from the rental of tangible movable property. 　　8. Where profits include items of income that 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. ARTICLE 8 Shipping and Air Transport 　　1. Profits of an enterprise of a Contracting State from the operation 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 include profits derived from the rental of ships or aircraft on a full (time or voyage) basis. They also include profits from the rental of ships or aircraft on a bareboat basis if such ships or aircraft are operated in international traffic by the lessee, or if the rental income is incidental to profits from the operation of ships or aircraft in international traffic. Profits derived by an enterprise from the inland transport of property or passengers within either Contracting State, shall be treated as profits from the operation of ships or aircraft in international traffic if such transport is undertaken in the course of international traffic by the enterprise. 　　3. Profits of an enterprise of a Contracting State from the use, maintenance, or rental of containers (including trailers, barges, and related equipment for the transport of containers) used 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. 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 other 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 that differ from those that would be made between independent enterprises, then, any profits that, 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 other Contracting State agrees that the profits so included are profits that would have accrued to the enterprise of the first-mentioned State if the conditions made between the two enterprises had been those that 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 adjustment, due regard shall be had to the other provisions of this Convention and the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall if necessary consult each other. ARTICLE 10 Dividends 　　1. Dividends paid by a company that 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 that State, but if the beneficial owner of the dividends is a resident of the other Contracting State, except as otherwise provided in this Article, the tax so charged shall not exceed: 　　a) 5 percent of the gross amount of the dividends if the beneficial owner is a company that owns at least 10 percent of the voting stock of the company paying the dividends; 　　b) 15 percent of the gross amount of the dividends in all other cases. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall by mutual agreement settle the mode of application of these limitations. This paragraph shall not affect the taxation of the company in respect of the profits out of which the dividends are paid. 　　3. However, as long as an individual resident in Ireland is entitled under Irish law to a tax credit in respect of dividends paid by a company resident in Ireland, the following provisions of this paragraph shall apply to dividends paid by a company resident in Ireland instead of the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article: 　　a) i) Dividends paid by a company which is a resident of Ireland to a resident of the United States may be taxed in the United States. 　　ii) Where a resident of the United States is entitled to a tax credit in respect of such a dividend under subparagraph b) of this paragraph, tax may also be charged in Ireland and according to the laws of Ireland on the aggregate of the amount or value of that dividend and the amount of that tax credit at a rate not exceeding 15 percent. 　　iii) Except as provided in subparagraph a) ii) of this paragraph, dividends paid by a company which is a resident of Ireland and which are beneficially owned by a resident of the United States shall be exempt from any tax in Ireland which is chargeable on dividends. b) A resident of the United States who receives dividends from a company which is a resident of Ireland shall, subject to the provisions of subparagraph c) of this paragraph and provided he is the beneficial owner of the dividends, be entitled to the tax credit in respect thereof to which an individual resident in Ireland would have been entitled had he received those dividends and to the payment of any excess of that tax credit over his liability to Irish tax. Any such tax credit shall he treated for United States foreign tax credit purposes as a dividend. c) The provisions of subparagraph b) of this paragraph shall not apply where the beneficial owner of the dividend (being a company) is, or is associated with, a company which either alone or together with one or more associated companies controls directly or indirectly 10 percent or more of the voting power in the company paying the dividend. For the purpose of this subparagraph, two companies shall be deemed to be associated if one is controlled directly or indirectly by the other or both are controlled directly or indirectly by a third company. 4. Subparagraph a) of paragraph 2 shall not apply in the case of dividends paid by a Regulated Investment Company or a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). In the case of a REIT, subparagraph b) of paragraph 2 also shall not apply, unless the dividend is beneficially owned by an individual holding a less than 10 percent interest in the REIT. 5. The term "dividends" as used in this Article means income from shares or other rights, not being debt-claims, and includes any income or distribution treated as income from shares under the taxation laws of the Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends or income or making the distribution is a resident. 6. The provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 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 base 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 14 (Independent Personal Services), as the case may be, shall apply. 7. A company which is a resident of a Contracting State and which has a permanent establishment in the other Contracting State or which is subject to tax on a net basis in that other State on items of income or gains that may be taxed in that other State under Article 6 (Income from Immovable Property (Real Property)) or under paragraph 1 of Article 13 (Capital Gains) may be subject in that other State to a tax in addition to the tax allowable under the other provisions of this Convention. Such tax, however, may be imposed only on: a) in the case of the United States, i) the portion of the business profits of the company attributable to the permanent establishment, and ii) the portion of the income or gains referred to in the preceding sentence of this paragraph which may be subject to tax in Ireland under Article 6 or 13, which in both cases represent an amount that, if those business profits, income or gains arose to a subsidiary company incorporated in Ireland, would he distributed as a dividend. 8. The tax referred to in paragraph 7 may not be imposed at a rate in excess of the rate specified in subparagraph a) of paragraph 2.