GENERAL EFFECTIVE DATE UNDER ARTICLE 29: 1 JANUARY 2000 　　This is a technical explanation of the Convention between the United States and the Republic of Latvia signed on January 15, 1998 (the "Convention"). 　　Negotiations took into account the U.S. Treasury Department's current tax treaty policy and the U.S. Treasury Department's Model Income Tax Convention published on September 20, 1996 (the "U.S. Model") between the first and second rounds of negotiations for this Convention, as well as the Model Income Tax Convention On Income and On Capital published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, as updated in November, 1997 (the "OECD Model") and recent tax treaties concluded by both countries. 　　The Technical Explanation is an official guide to the Convention. It reflects the policies behind particular Convention provisions, as well as understandings reached with respect to the application and interpretation of the Convention. References in the Technical Explanation to "he" or "his" should be read to mean "he or she" or "his or her". TABLE OF ARTICLES Article 1---------------------------------General Scope Article 2---------------------------------Taxes Covered Article 3---------------------------------General Definitions Article 4---------------------------------Resident Article 5---------------------------------Permanent Establishment Article 6---------------------------------Income from Immovable (Real) Property Article 7---------------------------------Business Profits Article 8---------------------------------Shipping and Air Transport Article 9---------------------------------Associated Enterprises Article 10--------------------------------Dividends Article 11--------------------------------Interest Article 12--------------------------------Royalties Article 13--------------------------------Capital Gains Article 14--------------------------------Independent Personal Services Article 15--------------------------------Dependent Personal Services Article 16--------------------------------Directors' Fees Article 17--------------------------------Artistes and Sportsmen Article 18--------------------------------Pensions, Social Security, Annuities,Alimony, and Child Support Article 19--------------------------------Government Service Article 20--------------------------------Students, Trainees and Researchers Article 21--------------------------------Offshore Activities Article 22--------------------------------Other Income Article 23--------------------------------Limitation on Benefits Article 24--------------------------------Relief from Double Taxation Article 25--------------------------------Nondiscrimination Article 26--------------------------------Mutual Agreement Procedure Article 27--------------------------------Exchange of Information and Administrative Assistance Article 28--------------------------------Members of Diplomatic Missions and Consular Posts Article 29--------------------------------Entry into Force Article 30--------------------------------Termination ARTICLE 1 General Scope Paragraph 1 　　Paragraph 1 of Article 1 provides that the Convention applies to residents of the United States or Latvia except where the terms of the Convention provide otherwise. Under Article 4 (Resident) a person is generally treated as a resident of a Contracting State if that person is, under the laws of that State, liable to tax therein by reason of his domicile or other similar criteria. If, however, a person is considered a resident of both Contracting States, Article 4 provides rules for determining a single state of residence (or no state of residence). This determination governs for all purposes of the Convention. 　　Certain provisions are applicable to persons who may not be residents of either Contracting State. For example, Article 19 (Government Service) may apply to an employee of a Contracting State who is resident in neither State. Paragraph 1 of Article 25 (Nondiscrimination) applies to nationals of the Contracting States. Under Article 27 (Exchange of Information and Administrative Assistance), information may be exchanged with respect to residents of third states. Paragraph 2 　　Paragraph 2 states the generally accepted relationship between the Convention and domestic law and between the Convention and other agreements between the Contracting States (i.e., that no provision in the Convention may restrict any benefit accorded by the tax laws of the Contracting States, or by any other agreement between the Contracting States.) The list in paragraph 2 contains examples of benefits not to be restricted and is not intended to be exhaustive. For example, if a deduction would be allowed under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (the "Code") in computing the U.S. taxable income of a resident of Latvia, the deduction also is allowed to that person in computing taxable income under the Convention. Paragraph 2 also means that the Convention may not increase the tax burden on a resident of a Contracting State beyond the burden determined under domestic law. Thus, a right to tax given by the Convention cannot be exercised unless that right also exists under internal law. The relationship between the nondiscrimination provisions of the Convention and other agreements is not addressed in paragraph 2 but in paragraph 3. 　　It follows that under the principle of paragraph 2 a taxpayer's liability to U.S. tax need not be determined under the Convention if the Code would produce a more favorable result. A taxpayer may not, however, choose among the provisions of the Code and the Convention in an inconsistent manner in order to minimize tax. For example, assume that a resident of Latvia has three separate businesses in the United States. One is a profitable permanent establishment and the other two are trades or businesses that would earn taxable income under the Code but that do not meet the permanent establishment threshold tests of the Convention. One is profitable and the other incurs a loss. Under the Convention, the income of the permanent establishment is taxable, and both the profit and loss of the other two businesses are ignored. Under the Code, all three would be subject to tax, but the loss would be offset against the profits of the two profitable ventures. The taxpayer may not invoke the Convention to exclude the profits of the profitable trade or business and invoke the Code to claim the loss of the loss trade or business against the profit of the permanent establishment. (See Rev. Rul. 84-17, 1984-1 C.B. 308.) If, however, the taxpayer invokes the Code for the taxation of all three ventures, he would not be precluded from invoking the Convention with respect, for example, to any dividend income he may receive from the United States that is not effectively connected with any of his business activities in the United States. 　　Similarly, nothing in the Convention can be used to deny any benefit granted by any other agreement between the United States and the other Contracting State. For example, if certain benefits are provided for diplomats under a Consular Convention between the United States and Latvia, those benefits or protections will be available to residents of the Contracting States regardless of any provisions to the contrary (or silence) in the Convention. Paragraph 3 　　Paragraph 3 specifically relates to nondiscrimination obligations of the Contracting States under other agreements. The provisions of paragraph 3 are an exception to the rule provided in paragraph 2 of this Article under which the Convention shall not restrict in any manner any benefit now or hereafter accorded by any other agreement between the Contracting States. 　　Subparagraph (a) of paragraph 3 provides that, notwithstanding any other agreement to which the Contracting States may be parties, a dispute concerning whether a measure is within the scope of this Convention shall be considered only by the competent authorities of the Contracting States, and the procedures under this Convention exclusively shall apply to the dispute. Thus, procedures for dealing with disputes that may be incorporated into trade, investment, or other agreements between the Contracting States shall not apply for the purpose of determining the scope of the Convention. 　　Subparagraph (b) of paragraph 3 provides that, unless the competent authorities determine that a taxation measure is not within the scope of this Convention, the nondiscrimination obligations of this Convention exclusively shall apply with respect to that measure, except for such national treatment or most-favored-nation ("MFN") obligations as may apply to trade in goods under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ("GATT"). No national treatment or MFN obligation under any other agreement shall apply with respect to that measure. Thus, unless the competent authorities agree otherwise, any national treatment and MFN obligations undertaken by the Contracting States under agreements other than the Convention shall not apply to a taxation measure, with the exception of GATT as applicable to trade in goods. 　　Subparagraph (c) of paragraph 3 defines a "measure" broadly. It would include, for example, a law, regulation, rule, procedure, decision, administrative action or guidance, or any other form of governmental guidance. Paragraph 4 　　Paragraph 4 contains the traditional saving clause found in U.S. tax treaties. The Contracting States reserve their rights, except as provided in paragraph 5, to tax their residents and citizens as provided in their internal laws, notwithstanding any provisions of the Convention to the contrary. For example, if a resident of Latvia performs independent personal services in the United States and the income from the services is not attributable to a fixed base in the United States, Article 14 (Independent Personal Services) would by its terms prevent the United States from taxing the income. If, however, the Latvian resident is also a citizen of the United States, the saving clause permits the United States to include the remuneration in the worldwide income of the citizen and subject it to tax under the normal Code rules (i.e., without regard to Code section 894(a)). 　　For purposes of the saving clause, "residence" is determined under Article 4 (Resident). Thus, if an individual who is not a U.S. citizen is a resident of the United States under the Code, and is also a resident of Latvia under its law, and that individual has a permanent home available to him in Latvia and not in the United States, he would, under the tie-breaker rules of Article 4 (Resident), be treated as a resident of Latvia under Article 4 and for purposes of the saving clause. The United States would not be permitted to apply its statutory rules to that person if they are inconsistent with the treaty. Such an individual would be subject to U.S. tax only to the extent permitted by the Convention. However, that person would be treated as a U.S. resident for U.S. tax purposes other than determining the individual's U.S. tax liability. For example, in determining under Code section 957 whether a foreign corporation is a controlled foreign corporation, shares in that corporation held by the individual would be considered to be held by a U.S. resident. As a result, other U.S. citizens or residents might be deemed to be United States shareholders of a controlled foreign corporation subject to current inclusion of Subpart F income recognized by the corporation. See Treas. Reg. section 301.7701(b)-7(a)(3). 　　Under paragraph 4 each Contracting State also reserves its right to tax former citizens and long-term residents whose loss of citizenship or long-term residence had as one of its principal purposes the avoidance of tax. Consistent with paragraph 2 of Article 3 (General Definitions), the phrase "as one of its principal purposes the avoidance of tax"as used in paragraph 4 was understood by the negotiators to be defined under the laws of the Contracting State of which the person was a citizen or long-term resident. The United States treats an individual as having a principal purpose to avoid tax if 　　(a) the average annual net income tax of such individual for the period of 5 taxable years ending before the date of the loss of status is greater than $100,000, or 　　(b) the net worth of such individual as of such date is $500,000 or more. The United States defines "long-term resident" as an individual (other than a U.S. citizen) who is a lawful permanent resident of the United States in at least 8 of the prior 15 taxable years. An individual shall not be treated as a lawful permanent resident for any taxable year if such individual is treated as a resident of a foreign country under the provisions of a tax treaty between the United States and the foreign country and the individual does not waive the benefits of such treaty applicable to residents of the foreign country. In the United States, such a former citizen or long-term resident is taxable in accordance with the provisions of section 877 of the Code. Paragraph 5 　　Some provisions are intended to provide benefits to citizens and residents even if such benefits do not exist under internal law. Paragraph 5 sets forth certain exceptions to the saving clause that preserve these benefits for citizens and residents of the Contracting States. 　　Subparagraph (a) lists certain provisions of the Convention that are applicable to all citizens and residents of a Contracting State, despite the general saving clause rule of paragraph 4: 　　(1) Paragraph 2 of Article 9 (Associated Enterprises) grants the right to a correlative adjustment with respect to income tax due on profits reallocated under Article 9. 　　(2) Paragraphs 2 and 5 of Article 18 (Pensions, Social Security, Annuities, Alimony and Child Support) deal with social security benefits and child support payments, respectively. The inclusion of paragraph 2 in the exceptions to the saving clause means that the grant of exclusive taxing right of social security benefits to the paying country applies to deny, for example, to the United States the right to tax its citizens and residents on social security benefits paid by Latvia. The inclusion of paragraph 5, which exempts child support payments from taxation by the State of residence of the recipient, means that if a resident of Latvia pays child support to a citizen or resident of the United States, the United States may not tax the recipient. 　　(3) Article 24 (Relief from Double Taxation) confirms the benefit of a credit to citizens and residents of one Contracting State for income taxes paid to the other. 　　(4) Article 25 (Nondiscrimination) requires one Contracting State to grant national treatment to residents and citizens of the other Contracting State in certain circumstances. Excepting this Article from the saving clause requires, for example, that the United States give such benefits to a resident or citizen of Latvia even if that person is a citizen of the United States. 　　(5) Article 26 (Mutual Agreement Procedure) may confer benefits on citizens and residents of the Contracting States. For example, the statute of limitations may be waived for refunds and the competent authorities are permitted to use a definition of a term that differs from the internal law definition. As with the foreign tax credit, these benefits are intended to be granted by a Contracting State to its citizens and residents. 　　Subparagraph (b) of paragraph 5 provides a different set of exceptions to the saving clause. The benefits referred to are all intended to be granted to temporary residents of a Contracting State (for example, in the case of the United States, holders of non-immigrant visas), but not to citizens or to persons who have acquired permanent residence in that State. If beneficiaries of these provisions travel from one of the Contracting States to the other, and remain in the other long enough to become residents under its internal law, but do not acquire permanent residence status (i.e., in the U.S. context, they do not become "green card" holders) and are not citizens of that State, the host State will continue to grant these benefits even if they conflict with the statutory rules. The benefits preserved by this paragraph are the host country exemptions for the following items: government service salaries and pensions under Article 19 (Government Service); certain income of visiting students and trainees under Article 20 (Students, Trainees and Researchers); and the income of diplomatic agents and consular officers under Article 28 (Members of Diplomatic Missions and Consular Posts) ARTICLE 2 Taxes Covered 　　This Article specifies the U.S. and Latvian taxes to which the Convention applies. With two exceptions, the taxes specified in Article 2 are the covered taxes for all purposes of the Convention. A broader coverage applies, however, for purposes of Articles 25 (Nondiscrimination) and 27 (Exchange of Information and Administrative Assistance). Article 25 applies with respect to all taxes, including those imposed by state and local governments. Article 27 applies with respect to all taxes imposed at the national level. Paragraph 1 　　Subparagraph 1(a) provides that the United States covered taxes are the Federal income taxes imposed by the Code, together with the excise taxes imposed with respect to the investment income of private foundations (Code sections 4940 through 4948). Although they may be regarded as income taxes, social security taxes (Code sections 1401, 3101, 3111 and 3301) are specifically excluded from coverage, as are the accumulated earnings tax and the personal holding company tax. The U.S. covered taxes are referred to in the Convention as "United States Tax." 　　Subparagraph 1(b) specifies the existing taxes of Latvia that are covered by the Convention. They are the enterprise income tax and the personal income tax. They are referred to in the Convention as "Latvian tax." Paragraph 2 　　Under paragraph 2, the Convention will apply to any taxes that are identical, or substantially similar, to those enumerated in paragraph 1, and which are imposed in addition to, or in place of, the existing taxes after the date of signature of the Convention. The paragraph also provides that the competent authorities of the Contracting States will notify each other of significant changes in their taxation laws or of other laws that affect their obligations under the Convention. The use of the term "significant" means that changes must be reported that are of significance to the operation of the Convention. Other laws that may affect a Contracting State's obligations under the Convention may include, for example, laws affecting bank secrecy. The competent authorities are also obligated to notify each other of official published materials concerning the application of the Convention. This requirement encompasses materials such as technical explanations, regulations, rulings and judicial decisions relating to the Convention.