Article 7 - Possibility of Declining a Request for Information - Principality of Liechtenstein

Article 7 Possibility of Declining a Request for Information 1. The competent authority of the requested Party may decline to assist: (a) where the request is not made in conformity with this Agreement and, in particular, where the requirements of Article 5 are not met; or (b) where the requesting Party has not pursued all means available in its own territory to obtain the information, except where recourse to such means would give rise to disproportionate difficulty; or (c) where disclosure of the information would be contrary to public policy (ordre public) of the requested Party. 2. This Agreement shall not impose on a Contracting Party the obligation: (a) to provide information subject to legal privilege, or any trade, business, industrial, commercial or professional secret or trade process, provided that information described in paragraph 4 of Article 5 shall not by reason of that fact alone be treated as such a secret or trade process; or (b) to carry out administrative measures at variance with its laws and administrative practices, provided nothing in this subparagraph shall affect the obligations of a Contracting Party under paragraph 4 of Article 5. 3. A request for information shall not be refused on the ground that the tax claim giving rise to the request is disputed. 4. The requested Party shall not be required to obtain and provide information which the requesting Party would be unable to obtain under its own laws made in similar circumstances from the requested Party under this Agreement. 5. The requested Party may decline a request for information if the information is requested by the applicant Party to administer or enforce a provision of the tax law of the applicant Party, or any requirement connected therewith, which discriminates against a national of the requested Party as compared with a national of the applicant Party in the same circumstances.