AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE's REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION AND THE PREVENTION OF FISCAL EVASION WITH RESPEC
颁布时间:1996-06-03
The Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of
the Republic of Lithuania,
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 local authorities,
irrespective of the manner 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 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 this Agreement shall apply are in
particular:
(a) in the People's Republic of China:
(i) the individual income tax;
(ii) the income tax for enterprises with foreign investment and
foreign enterprises;
(iii) the local income tax;
(hereinafter referred to as "Chinese tax" );
(b) in the Republic of Lithuania:
(i) the tax on profits of legal persons (juridiniч asmenч pelno
mokestis);
(ii) the tax on income of natural persons (fiziniч asmenч pajamч
mokestis);
(iii) the tax on enterprises using state-owned capital (palukanos u
valstybinio kapitalo naudojima);
(iv) the immovable property tax (nekilnojamojo turto mokestis);
(hereinafter referred to as "Lithuanian tax" ).
4. This Agreement shall apply also to any identical or substantially
similar taxes which are imposed after the date of signature of the
Agreement in addition to, or in place of , the existing taxes. 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 geographical sense, means all the territory of the People's Republic of
China, including its territorial sea, in which the Chinese laws relating
to taxation apply, and any area beyond its territorial sea, within which
the People's Republic of China has sovereign rights of exploration for and
exploitation of resources of the sea-bed and its sub-soil and superjacent
water resources in accordance with international law;
(b) the term "Lithuania" means the Republic of Lithuania and, when
used in the geographical sense, means the territory of the Republic of
Lithuania and any other area adjacent to the territorial waters of the
Republic of Lithuania within which under the laws of Lithuania and in
accordance with international law, the rights of Lithuania may be
exercised with respect to the sea-bed and its sub-soil and their natural
resources;
(c) the term "a Contracting State" and "the other Contracting State"
mean China or Lithuania, as the context requires;
(d) the term "tax" means Chinese tax or Lithuanian 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 "national" means:
(i) any individual possessing the nationality of a Contracting State;
(ii) any legal person, partnership, association and other entity
deriving its status as such from the laws 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 China, the
State Administration of Taxation or its authorized representative, and in
the case of Lithuania, the Minister of Finance or his authorized
representative.
2. As regards the application of this Agreement by a Contracting State
any term not defined therein 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 law of that Contracting
State, is liable to tax therein by reason of his domicile, residence,
place of head office, place of incorporation or any other criterion of a
similar nature. But this term does not include any person who is liable to
tax in that State in respect only of income from sources in that State or
capital situated therein.
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 persona and economic
relations are be (centre 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 Contracting State, he shall be deemed to be a resident of the State
in which he has a habitual abode;
(c) if he has a 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 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, the competent
authorities of the Contracting States shall endeavour to settle the
question by mutual agreement and 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. A building site or a construction, assembly or installation project
or a supervisory or consultancy activity in connection therewith
constitutes a permanent establishment only if such site, project or
activity lasts more than twelve months.
4. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, the term
"permanent establishment" shall be deemed not to include:
(a) the use of facilities solely for the purpose of storage, display
or delivery of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise;
(b) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the
enterprise solely for the purpose of storage, display or delivery;
(c) the maintenance of a stock of good 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 the
activities of such person are limited to those mentioned in paragraph 4
which, if exercised through a fixed place of business, would not make this
fixed place of business a permanent establishment under the provisions of
that paragraph.
6. An enterprise 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. 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 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 provisions of this Agreement relating to immovable
property shall apply also to 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 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. The expenses to be
allowed as deductions by a Contracting State include only expenses that
are deductible under the domestic law of that State. The application of
the provisions of the domestic law shall be in accordance with the
principles contained in this paragraph.
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 the preceding paragraphs, the profits to be
attributed to the permanent establishment shall be determined by the same
method year by yeas 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 of an enterprise of a Contracting State from the operation
of ships or aircraft in international traffic shall be taxable only in
that State.
2. 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
1. Where
(a) an enterprise of a Contracting State participates directly or
indirectly in the management, control or capital of an enterprise of the
other Contracting State, or
(b) the same persons participate directly or indirectly in the
management, control or capital of an enterprise of a Contracting State and
an enterprise of the other Contracting State,
and in either case conditions are made or imposed between the two
enterprises in their commercial or financial relations 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.
2. Where a Contracting State includes in the profits of an enterprise
of that Contracting State and taxes according1y profits on which an
enterprise of the other Contracting State has been charged to tax in that
other Contracting State, and the profits so included are profits which
would have accrued to the enterprise of the first-mentioned Contracting
State if the conditions made between the two enterprises had been those
which would have been made between independent enterprises, then that
other State shall make an appropriate adjustment to the amount of the tax
charged therein on those profits. In determining such adjustment, due
regard shall be had to the other provisions of this Agreement and the
competent authorities of the Contracting States shall, if necessary,
consult each other.
Article 10 Dividents
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 State, but if the recipient is the beneficial owner of
the dividends the tax so charged shall not exceed:
(a) 5 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends if the beneficial
owner is a company (other than a partnership) which holds directly at
least 25 per cent of the capital of the company paying the dividends;
(b) 10 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends in all other
cases. This paragraph shall no 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 mean income from
shares, or other rights, not being debt-claims, participating in profits,
as well as income from other corporate rights which is subjected to the
same taxation treatment as income from shares by the law 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 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 such other 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 law 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 and beneficially owned by the Government
of the other Contracting State, including its local authorities, the
Central Bank or any financial institution wholly owned by that Government,
or interest derived on loans guaranteed by that Government or any
financial institution owned by that Government, shall be exempt from tax
in the first-mentioned Contracting State.
4. The term "interest" as used in this Article means income from
debt-claims of every kind, whether or no 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, including premiums and prizes attaching to such securities,
hands or debentures. Penalty charges for late payment shall no be regarded
as interest for the purpose of this Article.
5. The provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall no 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 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 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 arnount 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 law 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,
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 is the Government of that Contracting State, 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 and
the beneficia1 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 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 tp 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 fixed base, may be taxed in that other State.
3. Gains derived by an enterprise of a Contracting State from the
alienation of ships or aircraft operated in international traffic by that
enterprise or movable property pertaining to the operation of such ships
or aircraft shall be taxable only in that State.
4. Gains derived by a resident of a Contracting State from the
alienation of shares in a company the assets of which consist mainly of
immovable property referred to in Article 6 and situated in the other
Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
5. Gains from the alienation of any property other than that referred
to in paragraphs 1 to 4 shall be taxable only in the Contracting State of
which the alienator is a resident.