PROTOCOL AMENDING THE CONVENTION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE KINGDOM OF NORWAY FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION AND THE PREVENTION OF FISCAL EVASION WIT RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME
颁布时间:1980-09-19
PROTOCOL AMENDING THE CONVENTION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND
THE KINGDOM OF NORWAY FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION AND THE
PREVENTION OF FISCAL EVASION WIT RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME AND PROPERTY
SIGNED AT OSLO ON DECEMBER 3, 1971
The United States of America and the Kingdom of Norway, desiring to
conclude a Protocol to amend the Convention for the Avoidance of Double
Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on
Income and Property, signed at Oslo on December 3, 1971, have agreed as
follows:
ARTICLE I
(1) Paragraph (2) of Article 1 (Taxes Covered) shall be deleted and
replaced by the following:
"(2) (a) This Convention shall also apply to:
(i) taxes substantially similar to those covered by paragraph (1)
which are imposed in addition to, or in place of, existing taxes after the
date of signature of this Convention; and
(ii) in the case of Norway, the national and municipal taxes on income
(including contributions to the tax equalization fund), and the special
tax administered under section 5 of the Act of 13 June 1975, No.35,
relating to the taxation of submarine petroleum resources, as in effect on
the date of signature of the Protocol to this Convention, and taxes
substantially similar thereto enacted after such date.
(b) The terms 'United States tax' and 'Norwegian tax' used in
paragraph (1) are deemed to include, respectively, the taxes imposed by
the United States and Norway described in this paragraph (2)."
(2) Paragraph (1) ofArticle23 (Relief from Double Taxation) and the
introductory language that precedes paragraph (1) of Article 23, shall be
deleted and replaced by the following:
"(1) in the case of the United States, double taxation shall be
avoided as follows:
(a) in accordance with the provisions and subject to the limitations
of the law of the United States (as it may be amended from time to time
without changing the general principle hereof), the United States shall
allow to a resident or citizen of the United States as a credit against
the United States tax on income the appropriate amount of income taxes
imposed by Norway; and, in the case of a United States company owning at
least 10 percent of the voting stock of a company which is a resident of
Norway from which it receives dividends in any taxable year, the United
States shall allow as a credit against the United States tax on income the
appropriate amount of income taxes imposed by Norway on the company which
is a resident of Norway with respect to the profits out of which such
dividends are paid. For purposes of applying the United States credit in
relation to taxes paid or accrued to Norway, the Norwegian taxes referred
to in paragraphs (1)(b) and (2) of Article 1 (Taxes Covered) (other than
the national and municipal taxes on capital, the municipal tax on real
property, and taxes substantially similar to such taxes on capital and
real property but imposed by Norway after the date of signature of the
Convention) shall be considered to be income taxes, and shall be allowed
as a credit against the United States tax on income, subject to the
provisions of subparagraph (b).
(b) The appropriate amount allowed as a credit by the United States
shall be based upon the amount of income taxes paid or accrued to Norway.
However, the credit shall not exceed the limitations (for the purpose of
limiting the credit to the United States tax on income from sources
outside of the United States) provided by United States law for the
taxable year. In addition, in the case of income taxes paid or accrued to
Norway by persons subject to the special tax referred to in subparagraph
(2)(a)(ii) of Article 1 (Taxes Covered), or to a substantially similar
tax, the appropriate amount allowed as a credit by the United States shall
be limited to the amount of income taxes paid or accrued to Norway
attributable to Norwegian source taxable income in the following way:
(i) with respect to income taxes paid or accrued to Norway on oil and
gas extraction income from oil or gas wells in Norway, the amount to be
allowed as a credit for a taxable year shall not exceed the product of:
(a) the maximum statutory United States tax rate applicable to a
corporation for such taxable year, and
(b) the amount of such income.
(ii) further, the lesser of:
(a) the amount of taxes paid or accrued to Norway on oil and gas
extraction income from oil or gas wells in Norway that is not allowable as
a credit under subparagraph (i), or
(b) two percent of such income for the taxable year shall be deemed to
be income taxes paid or accrued in the two preceding or five succeeding
taxable years, to the extent not deemed paid or accrued in a prior taxable
year, and shall be allowable as a credit in the year in which it is deemed
paid or accrued subject to the limitation in subparagraph (i).
(iii) the provisions of subparagraphs (i) and (ii) shall apply
separately, in the same way (but with the deletion, in the case of
subparagraph (ii), of the words 'the lesser of (a)' and 'or (b) two
percent of such income for the taxable year') to the amount of income
taxes paid or accrued to Norway on:
(a) Norwegian source oil related income not described in
subparagraph (i); and
(b) other Norwegian source income."
ARTICLE II
The following new Article 4A (Offshore Activities) shall be inserted
after Article 4 (Permanent Establishment):
"ARTICLE 4A
Offshore Activities
(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 4 (Permanent
Establishment) and 13 (Independent Personal Services), a resident of a
Contracting State who carries on activities in the other Contracting State
in connection with the exploration or exploitation of the seabed and
subsoil and their natural resources situated in that other Contracting
State shall be deemed to be carrying on in respect of those activities a
business in that other Contracting State through a permanent establishment
or fixed base situated therein.
(2) The provisions of paragraph (1) shall not apply where the
activities are carried on for a period not exceeding 30 days in the
aggregate in any 12-month period. However, for the purpose of this
paragraph, activities carried on by a person related to another person
within the meaning of Article 7 (Related Persons) shall be regarded as
carried on by the last-mentioned person if the activities in question are
substantially the same as those carried on by that last-mentioned person.
(3) Notwithstanding the preceding paragraphs, the provisions of
Article 6 (Shipping and Air Transport) shall apply to profits derived by a
resident of a Contracting State from the transportation by ship or
aircraft of supplies or personnel to a location where activities in
connection with the exploration of the seabed and subsoil and their
natural resources are being carried on in the other Contracting State, or
from the operation of tugboats and similar vessels in connection with such
activities.
(4) Notwithstanding Article 14 (Dependent Personal Services), wages,
salaries and similar remuneration derived by an individual who is a
resident of one of the Contracting States from labor or personal services
in connection with the exploration or exploitation of the seabed and
subsoil and their natural resources situated in the other Contracting
State shall not be taxable in that other State to the extent such wages,
salaries and similar remuneration are attributable to:
(a) Labor or personal services performed in that other State for a
period of 60 days in the taxable year; or
(b) If that other State is Norway, labor or personal services
performed on behalf of an employer who is a resident of the United States
with respect to petroleum reservoirs which extend between Norway and any
other State, provided that there is an agreement between Norway and that
other State for joint exploitation of the reservoir and the exploitation
is performed simultaneously in both States. This provision shall, however,
only come into force by a separate agreement between the competent
authorities of the Contracting States.
(5) Wages, salaries and similar remuneration derived by an individual
who is a resident of a Contracting State in respect of labor or personal
services rendered aboard a ship or aircraft covered by paragraph (3) shall
be taxed in accordance with paragraph (3) of Article 14 (Dependent
Personal Services)."
ARTICLE III
Paragraph (1) of Article 6 (Shipping and Air Transport) shall be
deleted and replaced by the following:
"(1) Notwithstanding Article 5 (Business Profits), income which a
resident of the United States derives from the operation in international
traffic of ships or aircraft shall be exempt from Norwegian tax."
ARTICLE IV
(1) Paragraph (2) of Article 8 (Dividends) shall be deleted and
replaced by the following:
"(2) The rate of tax imposed by one of the Contracting States on
dividends derived from sources within that Contracting State by a resident
of the other Contracting State shall not exceed 15 percent of the gross
amount actually distributed."
(2) Paragraph (4) of Article 8 (Dividends) shall be deleted and
replaced by the following:
"(4) Dividends paid by a corporation of one of the Contracting States
shall be exempt from tax by the other Contracting State except insofar as:
(a) The recipient of the dividends is a resident of the other Cont
racting State;
(b) In the case of dividends paid by a Norwegian corporation, the
recipient of the dividends is a citizen of the United States;
(c) The recipient of the dividends has a permanent establishment in
that other State and the shares with respect to which the dividends are
paid are effectively connected with such permanent establishment; or
(d) In cases where that other State is the United States, such
dividends are paid out of profits attributable to one or more permanent
establishments which such corporation had in that other State, provided
that such profits constituted at least 50 percent of such corporation's
gross income from all sources.
"Where subparagraph (d) applies and subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c) do
not apply, any such tax shall be subject to the limitation of paragraph
(2)."
ARTICLE V
Article 9 (Interest) shall be deleted and replaced by the following:
"ARTICLE 9
Interest
(1) Interest derived from sources within one of the Contracting States
by a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed by both
Contracting States; provided, however, that such interest shall be exempt
in the first-mentioned State in any calendar year in which either State
exempts similar interest derived from sources within that State from
taxation under its domestic law.
(2) The rate of tax imposed by a Contracting State on interest derived
from sources within that State by a resident of the other Contracting
State shall in no event exceed 10 percent of the gross amount of the
interest.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (2), interest derived
from sources within one of the Contracting States by a resident of the
other Contracting State shall in all events be exempt from tax by the
first-mentioned State if:
(a) The interest is beneficially owned by, or is paid by, a
Contracting State, a political subdivision or local authority thereof or
an instrumentality, subdivision or authority of a Contracting State which
is not subject to tax by that State;
(b) The interest is beneficially owned by a resident of a Contracting
State with respect to debt obligations guaranteed or insured by that
State, a political subdivision or local authority thereof or an
instrumentality, subdivision or authority of such State which is not
subject to tax by that State;
(c) The interest is paid by a purchaser to a seller in connection with
a commercial credit resulting from deferred payments for goods,
merchandise or services;
(d) The interest is paid with respect to a loan of any nature made by
a bank; or
(e) The interest is paid with respect to an obligation outstanding on
the date of signature of this Protocol.
(4) The term 'interest' as used in this Convention means income from
bonds, debentures, Government securities, notes or other evidences of
indebtedness, whether or not secured, and debt-claims of every kind, as
well as all other income which, under the taxation law of the Contracting
State in which the income has its source, is assimilated to income from
money lent.
(5) Paragraphs (2) and (3) shall not apply if the beneficial owner of
the interest, being a resident of one of the Contracting States, has a
permanent establishment in the other Contracting State and the
indebtedness giving rise to the interest is effectively connected with
such permanent establishment. In such a case, see paragraph (6)(a) of
Article 5 (Business Profits).
(6) Where any interest paid by a person to any related person exceeds
an amount which would have been paid to an unrelated person, the
provisions of this Article shall apply only to so much of the interest as
would have been paid to an unrelated person. In such a case the excess
payment may be taxed by each Contracting State according to its own law,
including the provisions of this Convention where applicable.
(7) Interest paid by a resident of one of the Contracting States to a
person other than a resident of the other Contracting State (and in the
case of interest paid by a Norwegian corporation, to a person other than a
citizen of the United States) shall be exempt from tax by the other
Contracting State. This paragraph shall not apply if:
(a) Such interest is treated as income from sources within the other
Contracting State under paragraph (2) of Article 24 (Source of Income); or
(b) The recipient of the interest has a permanent establishment in the
other Contracting State and the indebtedness giving rise to the interest
is effectively connected with such permanent establishment."
ARTICLE VI
(1) Paragraph (1) of Article 12 (Capital Gains) shall be amended by
redesignating subparagraphs (b) and (c) as, respectively, (d) and (e), and
by inserting after subparagraph (a) the following new subparagraphs (b)
and (c):
"(b) The gain is derived by a resident of one of the Contracting
States from the sale, exchange or other disposition of:
(i) Stock of a corporation the property of which consists principally
of real property situated within the other Contracting State; or
(ii) An interest in a partnership, trust or estate the property of
which consists principally of real property situated within the other
Contracting State.
For the purposes of this subparagraph, the term 'real property'
includes stock of a corporation referred to m subparagraph (b)(i) or an
interest in a partnership, trust or estate referred to in subparagraph
(b)(ii).
(c) The gain is derived by a resident of one of the Contracting States
from the sale, exchange or other disposition of stock of a corporation
which is a resident of the other Contracting State, but only if:
(i) The recipient of the gain owns within the 12-month period
preceding such sale, exchange or other disposition more than 25 percent of
the stock of that corporation; and
(ii) More than 50 percent of the fair market value of the gross assets
of that corporation used in its trade or business are physically located
in the other Contracting State on the last day of each of the three
taxable years preceding the sale, exchange or other disposition (or, if
the corporation has been in existence for less than 3 years, on the last
day of each preceding taxable year of the corporation)."
(2) Paragraphs (3) and (4) of Article 12 (Capital Gains) shall be
deleted and a new paragraph
(3) shall be inserted after paragraph (2):
"(3) In the case of gains described in paragraph (1)(a), see Article
11 (Income from Real Property). In the case of gains described in
paragraph (1)(d), see paragraph 6(a) of Article 5 (Business Profits)."
(3) Paragraph (8) of Article 24 (Source of Income) shall be deleted
and replaced by the following:
"(8) Income from gains described in paragraph (1) of Article 12
(Capital Gains), derived by a resident of a Contracting State but which
may be taxed by the other Contracting State, shall be treated as income
from sources within that other Contracting State."
ARTICLE VII
(1) Subparagraph (c) of paragraph (2) of Article 13 (Independent
Personal Services) shall be deleted and replaced by the following:
"(c) The individual is a public entertainer, such as a theater, motion
picture or television artist, a musician or an athlete, and the income is
derived from his personal services as a public entertainer provided that
he is present in that other Contracting State for more than a total of 90
days during the taxable year or such income exceeds in the aggregate
10,000 United States dollars or its equivalent in Norwegian Kroner during
the taxable year."
(2) The following new Article 14A (Artistes and Athletes) shall be
inserted after Article 14 (Dependent Personal Services):
"ARTICLE 14A
Artistes And Athletes
Where income in respect of activities exercised by an entertainer or
an athlete in his capacity as such accrues not to that entertainer or
athlete but to another person, that income may, notwithstanding the
provisions of Articles 5 (Business Profits), 13 (Independent Personal
Services), and 14 (Dependent Personal Services), be taxed in the
Contracting State in which the activities of the entertainer or athlete
are exercised. For purposes of the preceding sentence, income of an
entertainer or athlete shall be deemed not to accrue to another person if
it is established that neither the entertainer or athlete, nor persons
related thereto, participate directly or indirectly in the profits of such
other person in any manner, including the receipt of deferred
remuneration, bonuses, fees, dividends, partnership distributions or other
distributions."
ARTICLE VIII
Article 19 (Social Security Payments) shall be deleted and replaced by
the following:
"ARTICLE 19
Social Security Payments
Social Security payments and other public pensions paid by one of the
Contracting States to an individual who is a resident of the other
Contracting State or a citizen of the United States shall be taxable only
in the first-mentioned Contracting State. This Article shall not apply to
payments described in Article 17 (Governmental Functions)."
ARTICLE IX
Paragraph (3) of Article 22 (General Rules of Taxation) shall be
amended by adding after the first sentence thereof the following:
"For this purpose the term 'citizen' shall include a former citizen
whose loss of citizenship has as one of its principal purposes the
avoidance of income tax, but only for a period of ten years following such
loss."
ARTICLE X
Paragraph (2) of Article 23 (Relief from Double Taxation) shall be
amended as follows:
(1) The first sentence of subparagraph (a) shall be amended by
changing "subject to the provisions of subparagraphs (b) or (c) of this
paragraph" to "subject to the provisions of subparagraphs (b), (c), or (d)
of this paragraph".
(2) Subparagraph (c) shall be deleted and replaced with the following:
"(c) In determining its tax on a Norwegian corporation receiving
dividends from a United States corporation in which it owns 10 percent or
more of the stock, Norway shall allow a credit against the tax otherwise
payable by the Norwegian corporation for that part of United States tax
imposed on the profits of the United States corporation out of
which the dividends were paid, in the proportion that the dividends
received bear to the accumulated profits of the United States corporation
in excess of that tax, provided that an amount equal to such credit is
recognized by the Norwegian corporation as income in the year in which the
dividend is received. Such credit shall not, however exceed that part of
the tax, as computed before the credit is given,which is appropriate to
the income derived from sources in the United States under the rules set
forth in Article 24 (Source of Income)."
(3) A new subparagraph (d) shall be added as follows-:
"(d) Where a resident of Norway derives income which, in accordance
with paragraph (1) of Article 4(A) (Offshore Activities), may be taxed in
the United States, Norway may tax such income but shall allow as a credit
against the tax in Norway on that income an amount equal to the tax paid
in the United States. Such credit shall not, however, exceed that part of
the tax as computed before the credit is given, which is attributable to
the income which may be taxed in the United States."
ARTICLE XI
(1) Paragraph (4) of Article 27 (Mutual Agreement Procedure) shall be
amended by adding at the end thereof the following:
"Any agreement reached shall be implemented notwithstanding any time
limits in the domestic law of the Contracting States."
(2) The following new paragraph (5) shall be added to Article 27
(Mutual Agreement Procedure):
"(5) Where any provision in this Convention specifies an amount in
currency, the competent authorities may agree to adjust such amount upward
in light of economic developments."
ARTICLE XII
Paragraph (3) of Article 28 (Exchange of Information) shall be deleted
and replaced by the following:
"(3) The exchange of information shall be either on a routine basis or
on request with reference to particular cases. If information is requested
by a Contracting State in accordance with this Article, the other
Contracting State shall obtain the information to which the request
relates in the same manner and to the same extent as if the tax of the
first-mentioned State were the tax of that other State and were being
imposed by that other State. If specifically requested by the competent
authority of a Contracting State, the competent authority of the other
Contracting State shall provide information under this Article in the form
of depositions of witnesses and authenticated copies of unedited original
documents (including books, papers, statements, records, accounts or
writings), to the same extent such depositions and documents can be
obtained under the laws and administrative practices of such other
State with respect to its own taxes."
ARTICLE XIII
(1) This Protocol shall be ratified and the instruments of
ratification shall be exchanged at Washington as soon as possible.
(2) This Protocol shall enter into force upon the exchange of
instruments of ratification and its provisions shall have effect:
(a) In respect of credits against United States tax allowed pursuant
to Article I of this Protocol, as of the sixth taxable year preceding
January 1 of the year in which this Protocol enters into force;
(b) In respect of tax withheld at the source; to amounts paid on or
after the first day of the sixth month next following the date on which
this Protocol enters into force;
(c) In respect of other taxes, for taxable years beginning on or after
January 1 of the year following the year in which this Protocol enters
into force.
DONE at Oslo in duplicate, in the English and Norwegian languages,
both texts having equal authenticity, this 19th day of September, 1980.
FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: FOR THE KINGDOM OF NORWAY
(s) Sidney A. Rand (s) Ulf Sand