AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE's REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION AND THE REVENTION OF FISCAL EVASION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME
颁布时间:1986-05-12
The Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of
Canada,
Desiring to conclude an Agreement for the avoidance of double taxation
and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income,
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. The existing taxes to which this Agreement shall apply are, in
particular:
(a) in the case of Canada:
the income taxes imposed by the Government of Canada,
(hereinafter referred to as "Canadian tax");
(b) in the case of the People's Republic of 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").
2. 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, those referred to in paragraph
1. The relevant 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 " Canada" used in a geographical sense, means the
territory of Canada, including any area beyond the territorial seas of
Canada which, in accordance with international law and under the laws of
Canada, is an area within which Canada may exercise rights with respect to
the sea-bed and sub-soil and their natural resources;
(b) the term "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 laws relating to
Chinese tax apply, and all the area beyond its territorial sea, including
the seabed and sub-soil thereof, over which the People's Republic of China
has jurisdiction in accordance with international law and in which the
laws relating to Chinese tax apply;
(c) the terms "a Contracting State" and "the other Contracting State"
mean the People's Republic of China or Canada, as the context requires;
(d) the term "tax" means Chinese tax or Canadian 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 an enterprise carried on by
a resident of a Contracting State and an enterprise carried on by a
resident of the other Contracting State;
(h) the term "nationals" means all individuals having the nationality
of a Contracting State and all legal persons, partnerships and other
bodies of persons deriving their status as such from the law in force in a
Contracting State;
(i) the term "international traffic" means any transport by a ship or
aircraft operated by an enterprise of a Contracting State, except when the
ship or aircraft is operated solely between places in the other
Contracting State;
(j) the term "competent authority" means, in the case of the People's
Republic of China, the Ministry of Finance or its authorized
representative, and in the case of Canada, the Minister of National
Revenue 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 head office, place of management 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 Contracting State in
which he has a permanent home available to him; if he has a permanent home
available to him in both Contracting States, he shall be deemed to be a
resident of the Contracting State with which his personal and economic
relations are closer (centre of vital interests);
(b) if the Contracting 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 Contracting State, he shall be deemed to be a
resident of the Contracting State in which he has an habitual abode;
(c) if he has an habitual abode in both Contracting States or in
neither of them, he shall be deemed to be a resident of the Contracting
State of which he is a national;
(d) if he is a national of both Contracting State 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, the competent
authorities of the Contracting States shall by mutual agreement endeavour
to settle the question and to determine the mode of application of this
Agreement to such person.
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 for 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 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 whom the
provisions of paragraph 6 applies--is acting in a Contracting State on
behalf of an enterprise of the other Contracting State and has, and
habitually exercises, in the first-mentioned Contracting State 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 that fixed place 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
bushiness. However, when the activities of such an agent are devoted
wholly or almost wholly on behalf of that enterprise, he will not be
considered an agent of an independent status within the meaning of this
paragraph.
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 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 include 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 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 Contracting State unless the enterprise carries on
business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment
situated therein. If the enterprise carries on or has carried 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 deduction expenses which are incurred for the purposes
of the business of the permanent establishment, including executive and
general administrative expenses so incurred, whether in the Contracting
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 royalties, 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 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 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 principle 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 include items of income which are dealt with
separately in other Articles of this Agreement, then, the provisions of
those Articles 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 or the place of effective management is situated.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 and Article 7,
profits derived from the operation of ships or aircraft used principally
to transport passengers or goods exclusively between places in a
Contracting State may be taxed in that Contracting State.
3. The provisions of this Article shall also apply to profits from
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 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:
(a) 10 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends if the beneficial
owner is a company which owns at least 10 per cent of the voting stock of
the company paying the dividends;
(b) 15 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends in all other
cases.
The provisions of this 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 income from
shares or other rights, not being debt-claims, participating in profits,
as well as income from other rights which is subjected to the same
taxation treatment as income from shares by the taxation laws of the
Contracting 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 derives
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 profits,
even if the dividends paid or the undistributed profits consist wholly or
partly of profits or income arising in that other Contracting State.
6. Notwithstanding any provision in this Agreement, a company which is
a resident of the People's Republic of China and which has permanent
establishments in Canada, shall, in accordance with the provisions of
Canadian law, remain subject to the additional tax on companies other than
Canadian corporations, but the rate of such additional tax shall not
exceed 10 per cent. For the purpose of this paragraph, the term "earnings"
means the profits attributable to such permanent establishments in Canada
in a year and previous years after deducting therefrom:
(a) business losses attributable to such permanent establishments
(including losses from the alienation of property forming part of the
business property of such permanent establishments) in such year and
previous years,
(b) all taxes chargeable in Canada on such profits, other than the
additional tax referred to herein, and
(c) the profits reinvested in Canada, provided that the amount of such
deduction shall be determined in accordance with the existing provisions
of the law of Canada regarding the computation of the allowance in respect
of investment in property in Canada, and any subsequent modification of
those provisions which shall not affect the general principle hereof.
7. The additional tax referred to in paragraph 6 shall be levied only
to the extent that the cumulative amount of earnings of the company, or of
a person related thereto from the same or similar business as that carried
on by the company, exceeds five hundred thousand Canadian dollars
($500,000).
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 is exempt from tax in that Contracting State, if it is
paid:
(a) in the case of Canada:
(i) to the Government of Canada;
(ii) to the Bank of Canada;
(iii) on a loan directly or indirectly financed or guaranteed by the
Canadian Export Development Corporation;
(iv) to a financial establishment owned by the Government of Canada
and mutually agreed upon by the competent authorities of the Contracting
State;
(b) in the case of the People's Republic of China:
(i) to the Government of the People's Republic of China;
(ii) to the People's Bank of China;
(iii) on a loan directly or indirectly financed or guaranteed by the
Bank of China or the Chinese International Trust and Investment Company
(CITIC);
(iv) to a financial establishment owned by the Government of the
People's Republic of China and mutually agreed upon by the competent
authorities of the Contracting State.
4. The term "interest" as used in this Article includes income from
debt-claims of every kind, whether or not secured by mortgage, and whether
or not carrying a right to participate in the debtor's profits, and in
particular, income from Government securities and income from bonds or
debentures, as well as premiums and bonuses 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 arise in a Contracting State when the
payer is the Government of that Contracting State, a political
subdivision, a local authority 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 Contracting State in which the permanent
establishment or fixed base is situated.
7. Where, by reason of a special relationship between the payer and
the beneficial owner or between both of them and some other person, the
amount of the interest, having regard to the 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 which 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 is the Government of that Contracting State, a political
subdivision, a local authority 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 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 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 which are received by a resident of a Contracting
State shall be taxable only in that Contracting State.
4. Gains from the alienation of shares in the capital of a Company,
the assets of which consist mainly, directly or indirectly, of immovable
property situated in a Contracting State, may be taxed in that Contracting
State.
5. Gains derived by a resident of a Contracting State from the
alienation of any property other than that referred to in paragraphs 1 to
4 above, may be taxed in the Contracting State in which they arise.