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Syrian Arab Republic

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Updated atMarch 2010

Agreement Between The Government of The Republic of India and The Government ofThe Syrian Arab Republic for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of FiscalEvasion with respect to Taxes on Income

PREAMBLEThe Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, desiring to conclude an Agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, and with a view to promoting economic cooperation between the two countries, 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 imposed on behalf of a Contracting State or of its political subdivisions or local authorities, irrespective of the manner in which they are levied.

  1. There shall be regarded as taxes on income all taxes imposed on total income or on elements of income, including taxes on gains from the alienation of movable or immovable property, taxes on the total amounts of wages or salaries paid by enterprises.

  2. The existing taxes to which the Agreement shall apply are in particular:

    1. In the case of the Syrian Arab Republic:

    2. the income tax on commercial, industrial, and non-commercial profits; ii) the income tax on salaries and wages; iii) the income tax on non-residents; iv) the income tax on revenue of movable and immovable capital; and v) surcharges imposed as percentages of the above mentioned taxes; including surchargesimposed by the local authorities.

      (hereinafter referred to as "the tax of the Syrian Arab Republic").

    3. In the case of the Republic of India, the income tax, including any surcharge thereon;

      (hereinafter referred to as "Indian tax")

  3. The 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.

    Article 3 GENERAL DEFINITIONS 1. For the purposes of this Agreement, unless the context otherwise requires:

    1. the term "Syria" means, in accordance with international law, the territories of the Syrian Arab Republic including its internal waters, territorial sea, the subsoil thereof and the airspace above them to which Syria has sovereign rights and other maritime areas to which Syria has the right to exercise sovereign rights for the purposes of exploration, exploitation and conservation of natural resources.

    2. the term "India" means the territory of India and includes the territorial sea and airspace above it, as well as any other maritime zone in which India has sovereign rights, other rights and jurisdiction, according to the Indian law and in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982;

    3. The terms "Contracting State" and "other Contracting State" mean the Syrian Arab Republic or the Republic of India, as the context requires;

    4. The term "person" includes an individual, a company, a body of persons and any other entity which is treated as a taxable unit under the taxation laws in force in the respective Contracting States;

    5. The term "national" means:

      (i) any individual possessing the nationality of a Contracting State;

      (ii) any legal person, partnership or association deriving its status as such from the laws in force in a Contracting State;

    6. The term "company" means any body corporate or any entity which is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes;

    7. The term "enterprise" applies to the carrying on of any business;

    8. 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;

    9. 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;

    10. The term "competent authority" means:

    11. in the case of Syria, the Minister of Finance or his authorized representative;

    12. in the case of India: the Finance Minister, Government of India or his authorized representative;

    13. the term "tax" means Indian tax or the tax of the Syrian Arab Republic, as the context requires, but shall not include any amount which is payable in respect of any default or omission in relation to the taxes to which this Agreement applies or which represents a penalty or fine imposed relating to those taxes;

    14. The term "fiscal year" means:

    15. in the case of India: the financial year beginning on the 1st day of April; ii) in the case of Syria: the financial year beginning on the 1st day of January.

  4. As regards the application of the Agreement at any time by a Contracting State, any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning that it has at that time under the law of that State for the purposes of the taxes to which the Agreement applies, any meaning under the applicable tax laws of that State prevailing over a meaning given to the term under other laws of that State.

    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 State is liable to tax therein by reason of his domicile, residence, place of management or any other criterion of a similar nature, and also includes that State and any political subdivision or local authority thereof. This term, however, does not include any person who is liable to tax in a Contracting State in respect only of income from sources in that State.

  5. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then his status shall be determined as follows:

    1. he shall be deemed to be a resident only 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 only of the State with which his personal and economic relations are closer (center of vital interests);

    2. if the State in which he has his center 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 only of the State in which he has an habitual abode;

    3. if he has an habitual abode in both States or in neither of them, he shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State of which he is a national;

    4. if he is a national of both States or of neither of them, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall endeavour to settle the question by mutual agreement.

  6. 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 only of the State in which its place of effective management 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.

  7. The term "permanent establishment" includes especially:

    1. a place of management; b) a branch; c) an office;d) a factory; e) a workshop; f) a mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry or any other place of extraction of natural resources; g) a sales outlet; and h) a farm, plantation or other place where agricultural, forestry, plantation or related activities are

    carried on; i) a warehouse in relation to a person providing storage facilities for others on payment of charges.

  8. (a) A building site or construction, assembly or installation project or supervisory activities in connection therewith constitutes a permanent establishment but only if such site, project or activities continue for a period of 270 days or more.

    (b) The furnishing of services, including consultancy services, by an enterprise through employees or other personnel engaged by the enterprise for such purpose, but only where activities of that nature continue (for the same or connected project) within the country for a period or periods aggregating more than 183 days within any 12-month period.

  9. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, the term "permanent establishment" shall be deemed not to include:

    1. the use of facilities solely for the purpose of storage or display of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise;

    2. the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of storage or display;

    3. the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of processing by another enterprise;

    4. the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of purchasing goods or merchandise or of collecting information, for the enterprise;

    5. the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of carrying on, for the enterprise, any other activities of a preparatory or auxiliary character;

    6. 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.

  10. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, where a person - other than an agent of an independent status to whom paragraph 7 applies - is acting in a Contracting State on behalf of an enterprise of the other Contracting State, that enterprise shall be deemed to have a permanent establishment in the first-mentioned Contracting State in respect of any activities which that...

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