Belarus
| Updated at | March 2010 |
Income-Tax Act, 1961: Notification under section 90: Agreement Between the Government of Republic of India and the Government of Republic of Belarus for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income
(Notification No. G.S.R. 392(E) dated. 17.7.1998)
Whereas the annexed Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of Belarus for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on property (capital) shall enter into force on the Seventeenth day of July, 1998, in accordance with Article 30 of the said Agreement, thirty days after the receipt of the later of the notifications by both the Contracting States to each other of completion of the procedure required by their respective laws for bringing into force the said Agreement.
Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 90 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), and section 44A of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957 (27 of 1957), the Central Government hereby directs that all the provisions of the said Agreement shall be given effect to in the Union of India.
Annexure
Agreement between the government of the republic of india and the government of the republic of belarus for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on property (capital).
The Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of Belarus
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 property (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 property (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 property (capital) all taxes imposed on total income, on total property (capital) or on elements of income or of property (capital) including taxes on gains from the alienation of immovable property or property other than immovable property and taxes on the total amounts of wages or salaries paid by enterprises.
3) The taxes to which this Agreement shall apply are in particular:
(a) in India:
(i) the income-tax including any surcharge thereon; and
(ii) wealth-tax (hereinafter referred to as "Indian Tax"); and
(b) in Belarus:
(ii) the tax on income and profits of enterprises associations and organizations:
(iii) the income-tax on individuals; and
(iii) the tax on immovable property (hereinafter referred to as "Belarusian tax").
4) The Agreement shall apply also to any similar or substantially identical taxes, which are imposed by either Contracting State after the date of signature of the Agreement in addition to, or in place of, the taxes referred to in paragraph 3 above. 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). In this Agreement, unless the context otherwise requires
(a) 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 jurisdictions, according to the Indian law and in accordance with international law and the U. N. Convention on the law of the sea;
(b) the term "Belarus" means the Republic of Belarus and when used in a geographical sense, means the territory over which the Republic of Belarus exercises under the laws of the Republic of Belarus and in accordance with international law sovereign rights and jurisdiction;
(c) the terms "a Contracting State" and "the other Contracting State" means as the context requires, India or the Republic of Belarus;
(d) the term "tax" means Indian tax or Belarusian tax, 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 imposed relating to those taxes;
(e) 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;
(f) the term "company" means:
(i) in India, any body corporate or other entity which is treated as a company or body corporate under the taxation laws in force;
(ii) in Belarus, any legal person or any entity which is treated as a legal person 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 "competent authority" means:
(i) in the case of India, the Central Government in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) or their authorized representative;
(ii) in the case of Belarus, the State Tax Committee or its authorized representative;
(i)the term "national" means:
(ii) any individual possessing the nationality of a Contracting State;
(iii) any legal person, partnership or association deriving its status as such from the laws in force in a Contracting State;
(j) the term "international traffic" means any transport by a ship or aircraft operated b-,7 an enterprise of a Contracting State, except when the ship or aircraft is operated solely between places in the other Contracting State;
(k) the term "fiscal year" means:
(i) in the case of India, the "previous year" as defined under section 3 of the Income-tax Act, 1961;
(ii) in the case of Belarus, the calendar year from lst day of January to 31st day of December of the year.
2) As regards the application of the Agreement by a Contracting State, any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning which it has under the laws of that State concerning the taxes to which the 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 State, is liable to tax therein by reason of his domicile, place of incorporation, residence, place of management or any other criterion of a similar nature. However, this term does not include any person who is liable to tax in that State only in respect of income from sources in that State or property 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 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 center of vital interests cannot be determined or if he does not have 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 States or in neither of them, he shall be deemed to be a resident of the State of which he is a national;
(d) if each State considers him as its own national or if he is not a national of either 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 State in which its place of effective management is situated. If the State in which its place of effective management is situated cannot be determined, then the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall settle the question by mutual agreement.
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;
(f) a mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry or any other place of extraction of natural resources;
(g) a warehouse in relation to a person providing storage facilities for others;
(h) a farm, plantation or other place where agriculture, forestry, plantation, or related activities are carried on;
(i) a sales outlet;
(j) an installation or structure used for the exploration or exploitation of natural resources;
(k) a building site or construction or assembly project or supervisory activities in connection therewith only if such site, project or activity lasts for more than six months.
3).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 purposes 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 or display;
(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...
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