AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC'S OF CHINA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF NORWAY FOR THE A VOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION AND THE PREVENTION OF FISCAL EVASION WITH RESPECT
颁布时间:1986-12-25
The Government of the People's Republic of China, and the Government
of the Kingdom of Norway,
Desiring to conclude an Agreement for the avoidance of double taxation
and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and
on capital,
Have agreed as follows:
Article 1 Personal Scope
This Agreement shall apply to persons who are residents of one or both
of the Contracting States.
Article 2 Taxes Covered
1.This Agreement shall apply to taxes on income and on capital imposed
on behalf of a Contracting State or of its political subdivisions or local
authorities, irrespective of the manner in which they are levied.
2.There shall be regarded as taxes on income and on capital all taxes
imposed on total income, on total capital, or on elements of income or of
capital, including taxes on gains from the alienation of movable or
immovable property, as well as taxes on capital appreciation.
3.The existing taxes to which the Agreement shall apply are:
(a)in China.
(i)the individual income tax;
(ii)the income tax concerning joint ventures with Chinese and foreign
investment;
(iii)the income tax concerning foreign enterprises; and
(iv)the local income tax;
(hereinafter referred to as "Chinese tax").
(b)in Norway:
(i)the national tax on income (inntektsskatt til staten);
(ii)the county municipal tax on income (inntektsskatt til
fylkeskommunen);
(iii)the municipal tax on income (inntektsskatt til kommunen);
(iv)the national contributions to the Tax Equalisation Fund
(fellesskatt til Skattefordelingsfondet);
(v)the national tax on capital (formuesskatt til staten);
(vi)the municipal tax on capital (formuesskatt til kommunen);
(vii)the national tax on income and on capital under the Petroleum Tax
Act (skatt til staten vedr rende inntekt og formue i henhl d til
petroleumsskatteloven);
(viii)the national dues on remuneration to nonresident artistes
(avgift til staten) av honorarer som tilfaller kunstnere bosatt i
utlandet);
(ix)the seamen's tax (sj mannsskatt);
(hereinafter referred to as "Norwegian tax").
4.This Agreement shall also apply to any identical or substantially
similar taxes which are imposed after the date of signature of this
Agreement in addition to, or in place of, the existing taxes referred to
in paragraph 3. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall
notify each other of any substantial changes which have been made in their
respective taxation laws within a reasonable period of time after such
changes.
Article 3 General Definitions
1.For the purposes of this Agreement, unless the context otherwise
requires:
(a)the term "China", means the People's Republic of China; when used
in a geographical sense, means all the territory of the People's Republic
of China, including its territorial sea, in which the Chinese laws
relating to Chinese tax apply, and all area beyond its territorial sea,
including the sea-bed and subsoil thereof, over which China has
jurisdiction in accordance with international law and in which the laws
relating to Chinese tax apply;
(b)the term "Norway" means the Kingdom of Norway, including any area
outside the territorial waters of the Kingdom of Norway where the Kingdom
of Norway, according to Norwegian legislation and in accordance with
international law, may exercise her rights with respect on the sea-bed and
subsoil and their natural resources; the term does not comprise Svalbard,
Jan Mayen and the Norwegian dependencies ("bliand");
(c)the terms "a Contracting State " and "the other Contracting State"
mean China or Norway as the context requires;
(d)the term "tax" means Chinese tax or Norwegian tax, as the context
requires;
(e)the term "person" includes an individual, a company and any other
body of persons;
(f)the term "company" means any body corporate or any entity which is
treated as a body corporate for tax purposes;
(g)the terms "enterprise of a Contracting State" and "enterprise of
the other Contracting State" mean respectively and 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 "nationals " means all individuals possessing the
nationality of a Contracting State and all legal persons created or
organized under the laws of that Contracting State, as well as any
organization without legal personality treated for tax purposes as legal
persons created and orgnized under the laws of that Contracting State;
(i)the term "international traffic" means any transport by a ship or
aircraft operated by an enterprise which has its place of head office (i.
e. effective management) in a Contracting State, except when the ship or
aircraft is operated solely between places in the other Contracting State;
(j)the term "competent authority " means in the case of China, the
Ministry of Finance or its authorized representative and; in the case of
Norway, the Minister of Finance and Customs or his authorized
representative.
2.As regards the application of this Agreement by a Contracting State,
any term not defined in this Agreement shall, unless the context otherwise
requires, have the meaning which it has under the law of that Contracting
State concerning the taxes to which this Agreement applies.
Article 4 Resident
1.For the purposes of this Agreement, the term "resident of a
Contracting State" means any person who, under the laws of that
Contracting State, is liable to tax therein by reason of his domicile,
residence, place of management or head office or any other criterion of a
similar nature.
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 (center of vital
interests);
(b)If the State in which he has his centre of vital interests cannot
be determined, or if he has not 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 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 the provisions of paragraph 1, a person other
than an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then it shall
be deemed to be a resident of the Contracting State in which its place of
head office (i. e. Effective management) of its business is situated.
Article 5 Permanent Establishment
1.For the purposes of this Agreement, 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.The term "permanent establishment" likewise encompasses:
(a)a building site, a construction, assembly or installation project
or supervisory activities in connection therewith but only where such
site, project or activities continue for a period of more than six months;
(b)the furnishing of services, including consultancy services, by an
enterprise of a Contracting State through employees or other personnel in
the other Contracting State, provided that such activities continue for
the same project or a connected project for a period or periods
aggregating more than six months within any twelve month period.
4.Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 to 3, 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 activities mentioned in sub-paragraphs (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 whom the provisions
of paragraph 6 apply-is acting in a Contracting State on behalf of an
enterprise of the other Contracting State and has, and habitually
exercises an authority to conclude contracts in the name of the
enterprise, that enterprise shall be deemed to have a permanent
establishment in the first-mentioned Contracting State in respect of any
activities which that person undertakes for the enterprise, unless his
activities are limited to those mentioned in paragraph 4 which, if
exercised through a fixed place of business, would not make this fixed
palce of business a permanent establishment under the provisions of that
paragraph.
6.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 Contracting 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.
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 Contracting
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
1.Income derived by a resident of a Contracting State from immovable
property (including income from agriculture or forestry) situated in the
other Contracting State may be taxed in that other Contracting 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. The term shall in any case included property accessory to
immovable property, livestock and equipment used in agriculture and
forestry, rights to which the provisions of general law respecting landed
property apply, usufruct of immovable property and rights to variable or
fixed payments as consideration for the working of, or the right to work,
mineral deposits, sources and other natural resources. Ships and aircraft
shall not be regarded as immovable property.
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 imcome
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 Contracting 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 Contracting 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
which 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 which are incurred for the purposes of
the permanent establishment, including executive and general
administrative expenses so incurred, whether in the State in which the
permanent establishment is situated or elsewhere. However, no such
deduction shall be allowed in respect of amounts, if any, paid (otherwise
than towards reimbursement of actual expenses) by the permanent
establishment to the head office of the enterprise or any of its other
offices, by way of royalities, fees, or other similar payments in return
for the use of patents or other rights, or by way of commission, 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 permanent
establishment. Likewise, no account shall be taken, in the determination
of the profits of a permanent establishment, for amounts charged
(otherwise than towards 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 of other similar payments in
return for the use of patents or other rights, or by way of commission 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.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 paragraphs 1 to 5, the profits to be attributed
to the permanent establishment shall be determined by the same method year
by year unless there is good and sufficient reason to the contrary.
7.Where profits included items of income which are dealt with
separately in other Articles of this Agreement, then the provisions of
those Article shall not be affected by the provisions of this Article.
Article 8 Shipping and Air Transport
1.Profits from the operation of ships or aircraft in international
traffic shall be taxable only in the Contracting State in which the place
of head office (i. e. Effective management) of the enterprise is situated.
2.If the place of head office of a shipping enterprise is aboard a
ship, then it shall be deemed to be situated in the Contracting State in
which the home harbour of the ship is situated, or if there is no such
home harbour, in the Contracting State of which the operator of the ship
is a resident.
3.The provisions of paragraph 1 shall also apply to profits from the
participation in a pool, a joint business or an international operating
agency.
Article 9 Associated Enterprises
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 which differ from
those which would be made between independent enterprises, then any
profits which would, but for those conditions, 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.
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 Contracting 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 Contracting State, but if the recipient is the beneficial
owner of the dividends the tax so charged shall not exceed 15 per cent of
the gross amount of the dividends. The provisions of his paragraph shall
not affect 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 in come from
shares, or other rights, not being debt-claims, participating in profits,
as well as income from other corporate rights which is subject to the same
taxation treatment as income from shares by the laws of the State of which
the company making the distribution is a resident.
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 Contracting
State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein,
and the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively
connected with such permanent establishment or fixed base. In such case
the provisions of Article 7 or Article 14, as the case may be, shall
apply.
5.Where a company which is a resident of a Contracting State derived
profits or income from the other Contracting State, that other Contracting
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 Contracting
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 Contracting State, nor subject the company's
undistributed profits to a tax on the company's undistributed proftis,
even if the dividends paid or the undistributed profits consist wholly or
partly of profits or income arising in such other Contracting 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 Contracting State.
2.However, such interest may also be taxed in the Contracting State in
which it arises and according to the laws of that Contracting State, but
if the recipient is the beneficial owner of the interest the tax so
charged shall not exceed 10 per cent of the gross amount of the interest.
3.Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, interest arising in a
Contracting State and derived by the Government of the other Contracting
State, a political subdivision, a local authority or the Central Bank
thereof or any financial institution wholly owned by that Government, or
by any other resident of that other Contracting State with respect to
debt-claims guaranteed by that Government or by any financial institution
set up and financed by that Government to give such guarantees, or
debt-claims indirectly financed by the Government of that other
Contracting State, a political subdivision, a local authority or the
Central Bank thereof or any financial institution wholly owned by that
Government, shall be exempt from tax in the first-mentioned State.
4.The term "interest" as used in this Article means income from
debt-claims of every kind, whether or not secured by mortgage, and in
particular, income from government securities and income from bonds or
debentures, including premiums and prizes attaching to such securities,
bonds or debentures.
5.The provisions of paragraphs 1, 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 Contracting State independent personal services from a fixed
base situated therein, and the debt-claim in respect of which the interest
is paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment or
fixed base. In such case the provisions of Article 7 or Article 14, as the
case may be, shall apply.
6.Interest shall be deemed to airse in a Contracting State when the
payer of the interest is the Government of that Contracting State, a
political subdivision or a local authority thereof or a resident of that
Contracting 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 in connection with which the
indebtedness on which the interest is paid was incurred, and such interest
is borne by such permanent establishment or fixed base, then such interest
shall be deemed to arise in the State in which the permanent establishment
or fixed base is situated.
7.Where, by reason of a special relationship between the payer of the
interest and the beneficial owner or between both of them and some other
person, the amount of the interest, having regard to the debt-claim 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 this Agreement.
Article 12 Royalties
1.Royalties arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of
the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other Contracting state.
2.However, such royalties may also be taxed in the Contracting State
in which they arise, and according to the laws of that Contracting State,
but if the recipient is the beneficial owner of the royalties, the tax so
charged shall not exceed 10 per cent of the gross amount of the royalties.
3.The term "royalties" as used in this Article means payments of any
kind received as a consideration for the use of, or the right to use, any
copyright of literary, artistic or scientific work including cinematograph
films and films or tapes for radio or television broadcasting, any patent,
know-how, trade mark, design or model, plan, secret formula or process, or
for the use of, or the right to use, industrial, commercial or scientific
equipment, or for information concerning industrial, commercial or
scientific experience.
4.The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply if the
beneficial owner of the royalties, being a resident of a Contracting
State, carries on business in the other Contracting State in which the
royalties arise, through a permanent establishment situated therein, or
performs in that other Contracting State independent personal services
from a fixed base situated therein, and the right or property in respect
of which the royalties are paid is effectively connected with such
permanent establishment or fixed base. In such case, the provisions of
Article 7 or Article 14, as the case may be, shall apply.
5.Royalties shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the
payer of the royalty is the Government of that Contracting State, a
political subdivision or a local authority thereof or a resident of that
Contracting State. Where, however, the person paying the royalties,
whether he is a resident of a Contracting State or not, has in a
Contracting State a permanent establishment or a fixed base in connection
with which the liability to pay the royalties was incurred, and such
royalties are borne by such permanent establishment or fixed base, then
such royalties shall be deemed to arise in the Contracting State in which
the permanent establishment or fixed base is situated.
6.Where, by reason of a special relationship between the payer of the
royalty and the beneficial owner or between both of them and some other
person, the amount of the royalties, having regard to the use, right or
information for which they are 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 this Agreement.
Article 13 Capital Gains
1.Gains derived by a resident of a Contracting State from the
alienation of immovable property referred to in Article 6 and situated in
the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other Contracting State.
2.Gains from the alienation of movable property forming part of the
business property of a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a
Contracting State has in the other Contracting State or of movable
property pertaining to a fixed base available to a resident of a
Contracting State in the other Contracting State for the purpose of
performing independent personal services, including such gains from the
alienation of such a permanent establishment (alone or together with the
whole enterprise) or of such a fixed base, may be taxed in that other
Contracting State.
3.Gains from the alienation of ships or aircraft operated in
international traffic and movable property, pertaining to the operation of
such ships or aircraft shall be taxable only in the Contracting State in
which the place of head office (i. e. Effective management) of the
enterprise is situated.
4.Gains from the alienation of shares in a company the property of
which consists directly or indirectly principally of immovable property
situated in a Contracting State may be taxed in that Contracting State.
5.Gains from the alienation of shares other than those mentioned in
paragraph 4 representing a participation of 25 per cent in a company which
is a resident of Contracting State may be taxed in that Contracting
State.
6.Gains derived by a resident of a Contracting State from the
alienation of any property other than that referred to in paragraphs 1 to
5 and arising in the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other
Contracting State.
Article 14 Independent Personal Services
1.Income derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of
professional services or other activities of an independent character
shall be taxable only in that Contracting State except in one of the
following circumstances, when such income may also be taxed in the other
Contracting State:
(a)if he has a fixed base regularly available to him in the other
Contracting State for the purpose of performing his activities; in that
case, only so much of the income as is attributable to that fixed base may
be taxed in that other Contracting State;
(b)if he is present in the other Contracting State for a period or
periods exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in any period of twelve
months; in that case, only so much of the income as is derived from his
activities performed in that other Contracting State may be taxed in that
other Contracting State.
2.The term "professional services" includes especially independent
scientific, literary, artistic, educational or teaching activities as well
as the independent activities of physicians, lawyers, engineers,
architects, dentists and accountants.