Artikel 6

1. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall exchange information in order to administer and enforce the provisions of their domestic laws concerning the taxes covered by this Agreement, including information to effect the determination, assessment, and collection of such taxes, and the recovery and enforcement of tax claims, or the investigation or prosecution of tax matters.
2. The laws or practices of the Requested Party regarding the reception and disclosure of the information referred to in this Agreement, shall not prevent nor affect the correspondent measures of the competent authority of the Requested Party to obtain and provide information:
a) from proxies or persons who act as agents or fiduciaries, as well as from financial entities;
b) in relation to the identification of shareholders or partners of a person or other collective entity; or
c) in possession of the competent authority.
3. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall spontaneously transmit to each other information foreseeably relevant to the purposes referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article. The competent authorities shall determine the information to be exchanged, establishing the mode and language in which it shall be furnished.
4. The competent authority of the Requested Party shall provide information upon request by the competent authority of the Applicant Party for the purposes referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article. Where the information available in the tax files of the Requested Party is not sufficient to comply with the request, that Party shall use all relevant information gathering measures provided for in its domestic legislation, in order to provide the Applicant Party with the requested information, such as the examination of books, documents, records or other tangible property that may be useful or essential for such inquiry.
5. Where a Contracting Party requests information pursuant to paragraph 4 of this Article, the Requested Party shall obtain the information in the same manner, and provide it in the same form, as if the tax of the Applicant Party were the tax of the Requested Party and were being imposed by this last mentioned Party.
6. If specifically requested by the competent authority of the Applicant Party, the competent authority of the Requested Party shall, to the extent allowable under its domestic laws, observe the following procedures and formalities to provide the requested information:
a) specify the time and place for the taking of testimony or the production of books, documents, records and other tangible property;
b) secure for examination the original books, documents, records and other tangible goods, without modifying them;
c) secure or produce true and correct copies of originals (including books, documents, declarations and records);
d) determine the authenticity of books, documents, records and other tangible property produced;
e) carry out any other measure not at variance with the laws and administrative practices of the Requested Party; and
f) certify either that the procedures requested by the competent authority of the Applicant Party were followed or that the procedures requested could not be followed, with an explanation of the reason therefore.
7. The provisions of the preceding paragraphs shall be construed so as to impose on a Contracting Party the obligation to use all legal means and its best efforts to execute a request.
8. The Requested Party shall act with due diligence and shall respond to a request within sixty (60) days from the reception of the request.
9. In the event of an impossibility to fulfill a request in the period of time set forth for such purpose, or of difficulty to obtain the information, or of a declination of the request, the competent authority of the Requested Party shall inform such event to the competent authority of the Applicant Party, stating the probable date in which the answer might be sent, the nature of the obstacles, the difficulty to obtain the information or the reasons for the refusal of the request, as the case may be.
10. Where information is requested by a Contracting Party pursuant to the provisions of this Article, the Requested Party, notwithstanding that such information might not be necessary at that moment for the tax purposes of such Party, shall obtain and furnish it in the same manner as if the tax of the Applicant Party were the tax of the Requested Party and had been applied by this last mentioned Party.
11. The information obtained under this Agreement shall be considered certain simply by reason of its reception by the Applicant Party, unless conflicting evidence is provided.