Article 8A - Assistance in the Collection of Tax Claims - Brunei Darussalam

ARTICLE 8A ASSISTANCE IN THE COLLECTION OF TAX CLAIMS 1. The Contracting Parties shall, to the extent permitted by their respective domestic law, lend assistance to each other in the collection of tax claims. 2. The term tax claim as used in this Article means any amount owed in respect of the following taxes imposed by the Contracting Parties, together with interest, administrative penalties and costs of collection or conservancy related to such amount: (a) in the case of Brunei Darussalam, (i) income tax imposed under Income Tax Act (Cap. 35); and (ii) petroleum profits tax imposed under Income Tax (Petroleum) Act (Cap. 119); (b) in the case of India, (i) income tax (including any surcharge thereon) imposed under the Income Tax Act, 1961; (ii) tax imposed under The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income And Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015; and (iii) wealth tax imposed under Wealth Tax Act, 1957. 3. When a tax claim of a Contracting Party is enforceable under the laws of that Party and is owed by a person who, at that time, cannot, under the laws of that Party, prevent its collection, that tax claim shall, at the request of the competent authority of that Party, be accepted for purposes of collection by the competent authority of the other Contracting Party. That tax claim shall be collected by that other Party in accordance with the provisions of its laws applicable to the enforcement and collection of its own taxes as if the tax claim were a tax claim of that other Party. 4. When a tax claim of a Contracting Party is a claim in respect of which that Party may, under its law, take measures of conservancy with a view to ensure its collection, that tax claim shall, at the request of the competent authority of that Party, be accepted for purposes of taking measures of conservancy by the competent authority of the other Contracting Party. That other Party shall take measures of conservancy in respect of that tax claim in accordance with the provisions of its laws as if the tax claim were a tax claim of that other Party even if, at the time when such measures are applied, the tax claim is not enforceable in the first-mentioned Party or is owed by a person who has a right to prevent its collection. 5. When a Contracting Party, under its law, takes interim measures of conservancy by freezing of assets before a tax claim is raised against a person, the competent authority of the other Contracting Party if requested by the competent authority of the first-mentioned Contracting Party shall take measures for freezing the assets of that person in that Contracting Party in accordance with the provisions of its law. 6. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4, a tax claim accepted by a Contracting Party for purposes of paragraph 3 or 4 shall not, in that State, be subject to the time limits or accorded any priority applicable to a tax claim under the laws of that State by reason of its nature as such. In addition, a tax claim accepted by a Contracting Party for the purposes of paragraph 3 or 4 shall not, in that State, have any priority applicable to that tax claim under the laws of the other Contracting Party. 7. Proceedings with respect to the existence, validity or the amount of a tax claim of a Contracting Party shall only be brought before the courts or administrative bodies of that Party. Nothing in this Article shall be construed as creating or providing any right to such proceedings before any court or administrative body of the other Contracting Party. 8. Where, at any time after a request has been made by a Contracting Party under paragraph 3 or 4 and before the other Contracting Party has collected and remitted the relevant tax claim to the first-mentioned Party, the relevant tax claim ceases to be: (a) in the case of a request under paragraph 3, a tax claim of the first-mentioned Party that is enforceable under the laws of that Party and is owed by a person who, at that time, cannot, under the laws of that Party, prevent its collection, or (b) in the case of a request under paragraph 4, a tax claim of the first-mentioned Party in respect of which that Party may, under its laws, take measures of conservancy with a view to ensure its collection, the competent authority of the first-mentioned Party shall promptly notify the competent authority of the other Party of that fact and, at the option of the other Party, the first-mentioned Party shall either suspend or withdraw its request. 9. In no case shall the provisions of this Article be construed so as to impose on a Contracting Party the obligation: (a) to carry out administrative measures at variance with the laws and administrative practice of that or of the other Contracting Party; (b) to carry out measures which would be contrary to public policy (ordre public); (c) to provide assistance if the other Contracting Party has not pursued all reasonable measures of collection or conservancy, as the case may be, available under its laws or administrative practice; (d) to provide assistance in those cases where the administrative burden for that Party is clearly disproportionate to the benefit to be derived by the other Contracting Party.