Verdrag tussen het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden, ten behoeve van Aruba, en de Bondsrepubliek Duitsland inzake de uitwisseling van informatie betreffende belastingen, met inbegrip van strafrechtelijke belastingzaken

1. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall provide assistance through exchange of information that is foreseeably relevant to the administration and enforcement of the respective laws of the Contracting Parties concerning taxes covered by this Agreement, including information that is foreseeably relevant to the determination, assessment and collection of such taxes, the recovery and enforcement of tax claims, or the investigation or prosecution of tax matters, including criminal tax matters. The rights and safeguards secured to persons by the laws or administrative practice of the requested Contracting Party remain applicable to the extent that they do not unduly prevent or delay effective exchange of information.
2. As regards the Kingdom of the Netherlands, this Agreement shall apply only to Aruba.

A requested Contracting Party is not obligated to provide information which is neither held by its authorities nor in the possession of or obtainable by persons who are within its territorial jurisdiction.

1. This Agreement shall apply to the following taxes:
a) in respect of the Federal Republic of Germany: – the income tax (Einkommensteuer);
– the corporation tax (Körperschaftsteuer);
– the trade tax (Gewerbesteuer);
– the capital tax (Vermögensteuer);
– the inheritance tax (Erbschaftsteuer);
– the value added tax (Umsatzsteuer); and
– the tax on insurance premiums (Versicherungsteuer); including the supplements levied thereon;
– the income tax (Einkommensteuer);
– the corporation tax (Körperschaftsteuer);
– the trade tax (Gewerbesteuer);
– the capital tax (Vermögensteuer);
– the inheritance tax (Erbschaftsteuer);
– the value added tax (Umsatzsteuer); and
– the tax on insurance premiums (Versicherungsteuer);
b) in respect of Aruba: – the income tax (inkomstenbelasting);
– the wage tax (loonbelasting);
– the profit tax (winstbelasting);
– the inheritance tax (successiebelasting);
– the turnover tax (belasting op bedrijfsomzetten); and
– the dividend withholding tax (dividendbelasting).
– the income tax (inkomstenbelasting);
– the wage tax (loonbelasting);
– the profit tax (winstbelasting);
– the inheritance tax (successiebelasting);
– the turnover tax (belasting op bedrijfsomzetten); and
– the dividend withholding tax (dividendbelasting).
2. This Agreement shall apply also to any identical or substantially similar taxes that are imposed after the date of signature of this Agreement in addition to or in place of the existing taxes if the Contracting Parties so agree. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall notify each other of any substantial changes to the taxation and related information gathering measures covered by this Agreement.

1. For the purposes of this Agreement, unless otherwise defined:
a) the term “Germany” means the Federal Republic of Germany and, when used in a geographical sense, the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as the area of the sea-bed, its subsoil and the superjacent water column adjacent to the territorial sea, wherein the Federal Republic of Germany exercises sovereign rights and jurisdiction in conformity with international law and its national legislation for the purpose of exploring, exploiting, conserving and managing the living and non-living natural resources;
b) the term “Aruba” means the part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which is situated in the Caribbean Sea and consists of the territory of Aruba, including its territorial sea and any area beyond and adjacent to its territorial sea within which the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in accordance with international law, exercises jurisdiction or sovereign rights, but excluding the part thereof relating to Curaçao;
c) the term “competent authority” means: (i) in respect of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Federal Ministry of Finance or the agency to which it has delegated its power; and in respect of criminal tax matters the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection or the agency to which it has delegated its power;
(ii) in respect of Aruba, the Minister in charge of Finance or an authorised representative of the Minister;
(i) in respect of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Federal Ministry of Finance or the agency to which it has delegated its power; and in respect of criminal tax matters the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection or the agency to which it has delegated its power;
(ii) in respect of Aruba, the Minister in charge of Finance or an authorised representative of the Minister;
d) the term “person” includes an individual, a company and any other body of persons;
e) the term “company” means any body corporate or any entity that is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes;
f) the term “publicly traded company” means any company whose principal class of shares is listed on a recognised stock exchange provided its listed shares can be readily purchased or sold by the public. Shares can be purchased or sold “by the public” if the purchase or sale of shares is not implicitly or explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;
g) the term “principal class of shares” means the class or classes of shares representing a majority of the voting power and value of the company;
h) the term “recognised stock exchange” means any stock exchange agreed upon by the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties;
i) the term “collective investment fund or scheme” means any pooled investment vehicle, irrespective of legal form. The term “public collective investment fund or scheme” means any collective investment fund or scheme provided the units, shares or other interests in the fund or scheme can be readily purchased, sold or redeemed by the public. Units, shares or other interests in the fund or scheme can be readily purchased, sold or redeemed “by the public” if the purchase, sale or redemption is not implicitly or explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;
j) the term “tax” means any tax to which the Agreement applies;
k) the term “requesting Contracting Party” means the Contracting Party requesting information;
l) the term “requested Contracting Party” means the Contracting Party requested to provide information;
m) the term “information gathering measures” means laws and administrative or judicial procedures that enable a Contracting Party to obtain and provide the requested information;
n) the term “information” means any fact, statement, document or record in any form whatever;
o) the term “tax matters” means all tax matters including criminal tax matters;
p) the term “criminal tax matters” means tax matters involving intentional conduct which is liable to prosecution under the criminal laws of the requesting Contracting Party;
q) the term “criminal laws” means all criminal laws designated as such under the respective law of the Contracting Parties irrespective of whether such are contained in the tax laws, the criminal code or other statutes.
2. Any term not defined in this Agreement shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning that it has at the time the request was made under the law of the Contracting Party making the request, any meaning under the applicable tax laws of that Contracting Party prevailing over a meaning given to the term under other laws of that Contracting Party.

1. The competent authority of a Contracting Party shall provide upon request by the other Contracting Party information for the purposes referred to in Article 1. Such information shall be provided without regard to whether the requested Contracting Party needs such information for its own tax purposes or the conduct being investigated would constitute a crime under the laws of the requested Contracting Party if it had occurred in the territory of the requested Contracting Party.
2. If the information in the possession of the competent authority of the requested Contracting Party is not sufficient to enable it to comply with the request for information, that Contracting Party shall use at its own discretion all applicable information gathering measures necessary to provide the requesting Contracting Party with the information requested, notwithstanding that the requested Contracting Party may not, at that time, need such information for its own tax purposes.
3. If specifically requested by the competent authority of the requesting Contracting Party, the competent authority of the requested Contracting Party shall provide information under this Article, to the extent allowable under its laws, in the form of depositions of witnesses and authenticated copies of original records.
4. Each Contracting Party shall ensure that its competent authorities, in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, have the authority to obtain and provide upon request:
a) information held by banks, other financial institutions, and any person, including nominees and trustees, acting in an agency or fiduciary capacity;
b) information regarding the beneficial ownership of companies, partnerships and other persons, including in the case of collective investment funds and schemes, information on shares, units and other interests; in the case of trusts, information on settlors, trustees, protectors and beneficiaries; and in the case of foundations, information on founders, members of the foundation council and beneficiaries;
provided that this Agreement does not create an obligation on the Contracting Parties to obtain or provide ownership information with respect to publicly traded companies or public collective investment funds or schemes unless such information can be obtained without giving rise to disproportionate difficulties.
5. Any request for information shall be formulated with the greatest detail possible and shall specify in writing:
a) the identity of the person under examination or investigation;
b) the period for which the information is requested;
c) the nature of the information sought and the form in which the requesting Contracting Party would prefer to receive it;
d) the tax purpose for which the information is sought;
e) the reasons for believing that the information requested is foreseeably relevant to the administration and enforcement of the tax law of the requesting Contracting Party, with respect to the person identified in subparagraph a) of this paragraph;
f) grounds for believing that the information requested is held in the requested Contracting Party or is in the possession of or obtainable by a person within the jurisdiction of the requested Contracting Party;
g) to the extent known, the name and address of any person believed to be in possession of the requested information;
h) a statement that the request is in conformity with the laws and administrative practices of the requesting Contracting Party, that if the requested information was within the jurisdiction of the requesting Contracting Party then the competent authority of the requesting Contracting Party would be able to obtain the information under the laws of the requesting Contracting Party and that the request is in conformity with this Agreement;
i) a statement that the requesting Contracting Party has pursued all means available in its own territory to obtain the information, except those that would give rise to disproportionate difficulties.
6. The competent authority of the requested Contracting Party shall acknowledge receipt of the request to the competent authority of the requesting Contracting Party and shall use its best endeavours to forward the requested information to the requesting Contracting Party with the least reasonable delay.

The Contracting Parties may forward to each other, without prior request, information of which they have knowledge and that may be foreseeably relevant in accordance with Article 1.

1. The requested Contracting Party may allow representatives of the competent authority of the requesting Contracting Party to enter the territory of the requested Contracting Party to interview individuals and to examine records with the prior written consent of the persons concerned. The competent authority of the requesting Contracting Party shall notify the competent authority of the requested Contracting Party of the time and place of the intended meeting with the individuals concerned.
2. At the request of the competent authority of the requesting Contracting Party, the competent authority of the requested Contracting Party may allow representatives of the competent authority of the requesting Contracting Party to be present at the appropriate part of a tax examination in the requested Contracting Party.
3. If the request referred to in paragraph 2 is acceded to, the competent authority of the requested Contracting Party conducting the examination shall, as soon as possible, notify the competent authority of the requesting Contracting Party about the time and place of the examination, the authority or official designated to carry out the examination and the procedures and conditions required by the requested Contracting Party for the conduct of the examination. All decisions with respect to the conduct of the tax examination shall be made by the requested Contracting Party conducting the examination.

1. The competent authority of the requested Contracting Party may decline to assist:
a) where the request is not made in conformity with this Agreement; or
b) where the disclosure of the information requested would be contrary to the public policy of the requested Contracting Party (ordre public).
2. This Agreement shall not impose upon a requested Contracting Party any 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 that 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 Contracting Party shall not be required to obtain and provide information which, if the requested information was within the jurisdiction of the requesting Contracting Party, the competent authority of the requesting Contracting Party would not be able to obtain under its laws.
5. The requested Contracting Party may decline a request for information if the information is requested by the requesting Contracting Party to administer or enforce a provision of the tax law of the requesting Contracting Party, or any requirement connected therewith, which discriminates against a citizen of the requested Contracting Party as compared with a citizen of the requesting Contracting Party in the same circumstances.

1. All information provided and received by the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall be kept confidential and shall be treated as secret in the same manner as information obtained under the domestic laws of the Contracting Parties.
2. Such information shall be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) concerned with the purposes specified in Article 1, and used by such persons or authorities only for such purposes, including the determination of any appeal. For these purposes information may be disclosed in administrative or criminal investigations, in public court proceedings or in judicial decisions, if this is provided for in the respective laws of the Contracting Parties.
3. Such information may not be used for any purpose other than for the purposes stated in Article 1 without the expressed written consent of the competent authority of the requested Contracting Party.
4. The information provided to a requesting Contracting Party under this Agreement may not be disclosed to any other jurisdiction.
5. Personal data may be transmitted to the extent necessary for carrying out the provisions of this Agreement and subject to the provisions of the law of the Contracting Party supplying the data.

Unless the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties otherwise agree, ordinary costs incurred in providing assistance shall be borne by the requested Contracting Party, and extraordinary costs incurred in providing assistance (including reasonable costs of engaging external advisors in connection with litigation or otherwise) shall be borne by the requesting Contracting Party. At the request of either Contracting Party, the competent authorities shall consult with regard to this Article, and in particular the competent authority of the requested Contracting Party shall consult with the competent authority of the requesting Contracting Party in advance if the costs of providing information with respect to a specific request are expected to be extraordinary.

1. Where difficulties or doubts arise between the Contracting Parties regarding the implementation or interpretation of the Agreement, the competent authorities shall endeavour to resolve the matter by mutual agreement.
2. In addition to the agreements referred to in paragraph 1, the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties may mutually agree on the procedures to be used under Articles 5, 6, 7 and 10.
3. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties may communicate with each other directly for purposes of reaching agreement under this Article.
4. The Contracting Parties shall agree on procedures for dispute resolution should this become necessary.

The attached Protocol shall be an integral part of this Agreement.

1. This Agreement shall be ratified and the instruments of ratification shall be exchanged as soon as possible.
2. This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month after the exchange of the instruments of ratification and its provisions shall have effect in both Contracting Parties:
a) for criminal tax matters for any taxable period; and
b) for all other matters covered in Article 1 for taxable periods beginning on or after that date or, where there is no taxable period, all charges to tax arising on or after that date.

1. Either Contracting Party may terminate the Agreement by giving, through diplomatic channels, written notice of termination to the other Contracting Party.
2. Such termination shall become effective on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of receipt of notice of termination by the other Contracting Party.
3. If the Agreement is terminated, the Contracting Parties shall remain bound by the provisions of Article 9 with respect to any information obtained under the Agreement.