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Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of South Africa for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes

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..... ement Between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of South Africa for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income Preamble The Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of South Africa desiring to conclude an Agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, 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. The existing taxes to which this Agreement shall apply are : (a) in India, the income-tax (including any surcharge thereon); (hereinafter referred to as Indian tax); (b) in South Africa : (i) the income-tax (the normal tax); and (ii) the secondary tax on companies; (hereinafter referred to as South African tax). 2. The Agreement shall apply also to any identical or substantially similar taxes which are imposed by either Contracting State after the date of signature of the Agreement in addition to, or in place of, the existing taxes. The comp .....

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..... ationality of a Contracting State; (ii) any legal person or association deriving its status as such from the laws in force in a Contracting State; (j) the term "person" includes an individual, a company and any other body of persons which is treated as an entity for tax purposes under the taxation laws in force in the respective Contracting States; and (k) the term "tax" means Indian tax or South African 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. 2. As regards the application of the provisions of the Agreement at any time by a Contracting State, any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning which 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" me .....

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..... al resources, including an installation or structure used for the exploration or exploitation of natural resources; and (g) a warehouse, in relation to a person providing storage facilities for others. 3. A building site, a construction, installation or assembly project or any supervisory activity in connection with such site or project constitutes a permanent establishment only if it lasts more than six 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 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 for collecting information, for the enterprise; (e) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purp .....

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..... le 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, boats and aircraft shall not be regarded as immovable property. 3. The provisions of paragraphs 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 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 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 .....

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..... se or rental of containers, if such profits are incidental to the profits to which the provisions of paragraph 1 apply. 3. For the purposes of this Article, interest on funds connected with the operation of ships or aircraft in international traffic shall be regarded as profits derived from the operation of such ships or aircraft and the provisions of Article 11 shall not apply in relation to such interest. 4. 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 fo .....

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..... permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other 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 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 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 State, nor subject the companies undistributed profits to a tax on 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 State. 2. However, such int .....

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..... then such interest shall be deemed to arise in the 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 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 12 Royalties and Fees for Technical Services 1. Royalties or fees for technical services arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State. 2. However, such royalties or fees for technical services may also be taxed in the Contracting State in which they arise, and according to the laws of that State, but if the recipient is the beneficial owner of the royalties or fees for technical servic .....

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..... ed to arise in the 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 royalties or fees for technical services 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 to a resident of a Contracting State in the oth .....

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..... s, lawyers, engineers, architects, dentists and accountants. Article 15 Dependent Personal Services 1. Subject to the provisions of Articles 16, 18 and 19, salaries, wages and other similar remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment shall be taxable only in that State unless the employment is exercised in the other Contracting State. If the employment is so exercised, such remuneration as is derived therefrom may be taxed in that other State. 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment exercised in the other Contracting State shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned State if : (a) the recipient is present in the other State for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in any twelve months period commencing or ending in the fiscal year concerned; (b) the remuneration is paid by or on behalf of an employer who is not a resident of the other State; and (c) the remuneration is not borne by a permanent establishment or a fixed base which the employer has in the other State. 3. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of .....

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..... ividual in respect of services rendered to that State or sub-division or authority shall be taxable only in that State. (b) However, such salaries, wages and similar remuneration shall be taxable only in the other Contracting State if the services are rendered in that State and the individual is a resident of that State who : (i) is a national of that State; or (ii) did not become a resident of that State solely for the purpose of rendering the services. 2. (a) Any pension paid by, or out of funds created by, a Contracting State or a political sub-division or a local authority thereof to an individual in respect of services rendered to that State or sub-division or authority shall be taxable only in that State. (b) However, such pension shall be taxable only in the other Contracting State if the individual is a resident of, and a national of, that State. 3. The provisions of Article 15, 16, 17 or 18 shall apply to salaries, wages and similar remuneration, and to pensions, in respect of services rendered in connection with a business carried on by a Contracting State or a political sub-division or a local authority thereof. Article 20 Students, Apprentices and Business Tra .....

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..... Article 1, also apply to persons who are not residents of one or both of the Contracting States. 2. The taxation on a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State shall not be less favourably levied in that other State than the taxation levied on enterprises of that other State carrying on the same activities. This provision shall not be construed as preventing a Contracting State from charging the profits of a permanent establishment which a company of the other Contracting State has in the first-mentioned State at a rate of tax which is not more than 10 percentage points higher than that imposed on the profits of a similar company of the first-mentioned Contracting State, nor as being in conflict with the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 7 of this Agreement. 3. Nothing contained in this Article shall be construed as obliging a Contracting State to grant to residents of the other Contracting State any personal allowances, reliefs and reductions for taxation purposes on account of civil status or family responsibilities which it grants to its own residents. 4. Enterprises of a Contracting State, the capital of which i .....

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..... mpetent authorities of the Contracting States may communicate with each other directly for the purpose of reaching an agreement in the sense of the preceding paragraphs. When it seems advisable in order to reach agreement to have an oral exchange of opinions, such exchange may take place through a joint commission consisting of representatives of the competent authorities of the Contracting States. Article 25 Exchange of Information 1. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall exchange such information, including documents, as is necessary for carrying out the provisions of this Agreement or of the domestic laws of the Contracting States concerning taxes covered by the Agreement insofar as the taxation thereunder is not contrary to the Agreement. The exchange of information is not restricted by Article 1. Any information received by a Contracting State shall be treated as secret in the same manner as information obtained under the domestic law of that State and shall be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) concerned with the assessment or collection of, the enforcement or prosecution in respect of, or the determina .....

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..... ithheld at source, for amounts paid or credited in the fiscal year beginning in the calendar year next following that in which the Agreement enters into force; and (ii) in respect of other taxes, for any fiscal year beginning in the calendar year next following that in which the Agreement enters into force; (b) in South Africa, in respect of fiscal years beginning on or after the first day of January next following the date upon which the Agreement enters into force. Article 29 Termination 1. This Agreement shall remain in force indefinitely but either of the Contracting States may terminate the Agreement through the diplomatic channel, by giving to the other Contracting State written notice of termination not later than 30th June of any calendar year starting five years after the year in which the Agreement entered into force: 2. In such event, the Agreement shall cease to apply : (a) in India : (i) in respect of taxes withheld at source, for amounts paid or credited in the fiscal year beginning in the calendar year next following that in which notice is given; and (ii) in respect of other taxes, for any fiscal year beginning in the calendar year next following that .....

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