Artikel 25

1. Except as otherwise provided in this Article, a resident of a Contracting State shall not be entitled to a benefit that would otherwise be accorded under this Convention unless such resident is a qualified person, as defined in paragraph 2, at the time when the benefit would otherwise be accorded.
2. A resident of a Contracting State shall be a qualified person at a time when a benefit would otherwise be accorded under this Convention if, at that time, the resident is:
a) an individual;
b) that Contracting State, a political subdivision or local authority thereof, the central bank of that Contracting State, or an agency or instrumentality of that Contracting State or political subdivision or local authority;
c) a company or other entity, if the principal class of its shares is regularly traded on one or more recognised stock exchanges;
d) a recognised pension fund, if, at the beginning of the taxable year for which the claim to the benefit is made, at least 50 per cent of its beneficiaries, members or participants are individuals who are residents of either Contracting State; or
e) a person other than an individual, if, at that time and on at least half of the days of a twelve month period that includes that time, persons that are residents of that Contracting State and that are qualified persons under subparagraph (a), (b), (c) or (d) own, directly or indirectly, at least 50 per cent of the shares of the person.
3. a) A resident of a Contracting State shall be entitled to benefits to this Convention with respect to an item of income derived from the other Contracting State, regardless of whether the resident is a qualified person, if the resident is engaged in the active conduct of a business in the first-mentioned Contracting State, and the income derived from the other Contracting State emanates from, or is incidental to, that business. For purposes of this Article, the term “active conduct of a business” shall not include the following activities or any combination thereof: i) operating as a holding company, while lacking the relevant substance, including human and material resources, to adequately provide active overall supervision or administration of a group of companies;
ii) providing group financing (including passive cash pooling);
iii) making or managing investments, unless these activities are carried on by a bank, insurance enterprise or registered securities dealer in the ordinary course of its business as such; or
iv) holding or managing intangible property, while lacking the relevant substance to adequately develop and enhance the intangible property.
i) operating as a holding company, while lacking the relevant substance, including human and material resources, to adequately provide active overall supervision or administration of a group of companies;
ii) providing group financing (including passive cash pooling);
iii) making or managing investments, unless these activities are carried on by a bank, insurance enterprise or registered securities dealer in the ordinary course of its business as such; or
iv) holding or managing intangible property, while lacking the relevant substance to adequately develop and enhance the intangible property.
b) If a resident of a Contracting State derives an item of income from a business activity conducted by that resident in the other Contracting State, or derives an item of income arising in the other Contracting State from a connected person, the conditions described in subparagraph (a) shall be considered to be satisfied with respect to such item of income only if the business activity carried on by the resident in the first-mentioned Contracting State to which the item of income is related is substantial in relation to the same or complementary business activity carried on by the resident or such connected person in the other Contracting State. Whether a business activity is substantial for the purposes of this paragraph shall be determined based on all the facts and circumstances.
4. A resident of a Contracting State that is not a qualified person shall nevertheless be entitled to a benefit that would otherwise be accorded under this Convention with respect to an item of income described in the respective paragraph or Article if in all other cases, at the time when the benefit would otherwise be accorded and on at least half of the days of a twelve month period that includes that time, persons that are equivalent beneficiaries own, directly or indirectly, at least 85 per cent of the shares of the resident.
5. If a resident of a Contracting State is neither a qualified person, nor entitled to a benefit under paragraph 3 or 4, the competent authority of the Contracting State in which a benefit is denied under the preceding paragraphs of this Article may, nevertheless, grant a benefit of this Convention, or benefits with respect to an item of income described in the respective paragraph or Article, taking into account the object and purpose of this Convention, but only if such resident demonstrates to the satisfaction of such competent authority that neither its establishment, acquisition or maintenance, nor the conduct of its operations, had as one of its principal purposes the obtaining of such benefit. The competent authority of the Contracting State to which a request has been made under this paragraph by a resident of the other Contracting State shall consult with the competent authority of that other Contracting State before either granting or denying the request.
6. For the purposes of this Article:
a) the term “principal class of shares” means the class or classes of shares of a company or entity which represents the majority of the aggregate vote and value of the company or entity;
b) with respect to entities that are not companies, the term “shares” means interests that are comparable to shares;
c) two persons shall be “connected persons” if one owns, directly or indirectly, at least 50 per cent of the beneficial interest in the other (or, in the case of a company, at least 50 per cent of the aggregate vote and value of the company’s shares) or another person owns, directly or indirectly, at least 50 per cent of the beneficial interest (or, in the case of a company, at least 50 per cent of the aggregate vote and value of the company’s shares) in each person; in any case, a person shall be connected to another if, based on all the relevant facts and circumstances, one has control of the other or both are under the control of the same person or persons; and
d) the term “equivalent beneficiary” means any person who would be entitled to benefits with respect to an item of income accorded by a Contracting State under the domestic law of that Contracting State, this Convention or any other international agreement which are equivalent to, or more favourable than, benefits to be accorded to that item of income under the provisions of the Convention; for the purposes of determining whether a person is an equivalent beneficiary with respect to dividends received by a company, the person shall be deemed to be a company and to hold the same voting power of the company paying the dividends as such voting power which the company claiming the benefit with respect to the dividends holds.
7. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Convention, a benefit under this Convention shall not be granted in respect of an item of income if it is reasonable to conclude, having regard to all relevant facts and circumstances, that obtaining that benefit was one of the principal purposes of any arrangement or transaction that resulted directly or indirectly in that benefit, unless it is established that granting that benefit in these circumstances would be in accordance with the object and purpose of the relevant provisions of this Convention. The competent authority of a Contracting State shall consult with the competent authority of the other Contracting State before denying a benefit under this paragraph.
8. Where a benefit under this Convention is denied to a person under paragraph 7, the competent authority of the Contracting State that would otherwise have granted this benefit shall nevertheless treat that person as being entitled to this benefit, or to different benefits with respect to a specific item of income, if such competent authority, upon request from that person and after consideration of the relevant facts and circumstances, determines that such benefits would have been granted in the absence of the transaction or arrangement referred to in paragraph 7. The competent authority of the Contracting State to which the request has been made will consult with the competent authority of the other State before rejecting a request made under this paragraph by a resident of that other State.
9. Where
a) an enterprise of a Contracting State derives an item of income from the other Contracting State and the first-mentioned State treats such item of income as attributable to a permanent establishment of the enterprise situated in a third jurisdiction; and
b) the profits attributable to that permanent establishment are exempt from tax in the first-mentioned State;
the benefits of this Convention shall not apply to any item of income unless the tax in the third jurisdiction is more than 60 per cent of the tax that would be imposed in the first-mentioned State on that item of income if that permanent establishment were situated in the first-mentioned State. In such a case any item of income to which the provisions of this paragraph apply shall remain taxable according to the domestic law of the other State, notwithstanding any other provisions of this Convention.
10. The provisions of paragraph 9 shall not apply if the item of income derived from the other State emanates from, or is incidental to, the active conduct of a business carried on through the permanent establishment.
11. Where a benefit under this Convention is denied pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 9 with respect to an item of income derived by a resident of a Contracting State, the competent authority of the other Contracting State may, nevertheless, grant this benefit with respect to that item of income if, in response to a request by such resident, such competent authority determines that granting such benefit is justified in light of the reasons such resident did not satisfy the requirements of this paragraph (such as the existence of losses). The competent authority of a Contracting State shall consult with the competent authority of the other Contracting State before denying a benefit under paragraph 9 or either granting or denying the request made under this paragraph.