CONVENTION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF THAILAND AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE POLISH PEOPLE S REPUBLIC FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME The Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government of the Polish Republic; Desiring to conclude a Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation with respect to Taxes on Income; Have agreed as follows: ARTICLE 1 Personal scope This Convention shall apply to persons who are residents of one or both of the Contracting States. ARTICLE 2 Taxes covered 1. This Convention shall apply to taxes on income imposed on behalf of each Contracting State or its political subdivisions or local authorities, irrespective of the manner in which they are levied. 2. There shall be regarded as taxes on income all taxes imposed on total income, or, on elements of income, including taxes on gains from the alienation of movable or immovable property, taxes on the total amounts of wages or salaries paid by the enterprises. 3. The existing taxes to which the Convention shall apply are in particular: a) in the case of the Polish People s Republic: - the income tax (podatek dochodowy); - the tax on wages or salaries (podatek od wynagrodzen); and - the equalisation tax (podatek wyrownawczy) (hereinafter referred to as Polish tax) b) in the case of the Kingdom of Thailand: - the income tax; and - the petroleum income tax; (hereinafter referred to as Thai tax) 4. The Convention shall also apply to any identical or substantially similar taxes which are subsequently imposed in addition to, or in place of the existing taxes. At the end of each year, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall notify each other of any significant changes which have been made in their respective taxation laws. ARTICLE 3 General definitions 1. In this Convention, unless the context otherwise requires: a) the terms a Contracting State and the other Contracting State mean the Polish People s Republic or the Kingdom of Thailand, as the context requires; b) the term person includes an individual, a company or juridical person and all other entities which are treated as taxable units under the tax laws in force in either Contracting State; c) the term company means any body corporate or any entity which is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes under the laws of either Contracting State; d) the terms enterprise of a Contracting State and enterprise of the other Contracting State mean respectively an enterprise carried on by a resident of a Contracting State and an enterprise carried on by a resident of the other Contracting State; e) the term competent authority means in the case of the Polish Peoples Republic, the Minister of Finance or his authorised representative; and in the case of the Kingdom of Thailand, the Minister of Finance or his authorised representative; f) the term nationals means: - in relation to Poland, any individual having the nationality of Poland and any legal person or association or other entity created under the law in force in Poland; - in relation to Thailand, all individuals possesing the nationality of Thailand, and all legal persons, partnerships and associations deriving their status as such from the law in force in Thailand. 2. As regards the application of this Convention by a Contracting State any term not otherwise defined shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning which it has under the laws of that Contracting State relating to the taxes which are the subject of this Convention. ARTICLE 4 Fiscal domicile 1. For the purposes of this Convention, the term resident of a Contracting State means any person who, under the law of that State, is liable to taxation therein by reason of his domicile, residence, place of management, place of registration, or by any other criterion of a similar nature. 2. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1, an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then this case shall be determined in accordance with the following rules: a) he shall be deemed to be a resident of the Contracting State in which he has a permanent home available to him. If he has a permanent home available to him in both Contracting States, he shall be deemed to be a resident of the Contracting State with which his personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests); b) if the Contracting State in which he has his centre of vital interests cannot be determined, or if he has not a permanent home available to him in either Contracting State, he shall be deemed to be a resident of the Contracting State in which he has an habitual abode; c) if he has an habitual abode in both Contracting States or if he has not an habitual abode in either Contracting State, he shall be deemed to be a resident of the Contracting State of which he is a national; d) if the question of residence cannot be determined according to the provisions of sub-paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of this paragraph, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall settle the question by mutual agreement. 3. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1 person other than an individual is a resident of both Contracting State, then the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall settle the question by mutual agreement. ARTICLE 5 Permanent establishment 1. For the purpose of this Convention, the term permanent establishment means a fixed place of business in which the business of the enterprise is wholly or partly carried on. 2. The term permanent establishment shall include especially: a) a place of management; b) a branch; c) an office; d) a factory; e) a workshop or warehouse; f) a mine, oil well, quarry or other place of extraction of natural resources. 3. The term permanent establishment shall not be deemed 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 purpose of advertising, for the supply of information, for scientific research or for similar activities which have a preparatory or auxiliary character, for the enterprise. 4. A person acting in a Contracting State on behalf of an enterprise of the other Contracting State (other than a broker, general commission agent or any other agent of an independent status to whom paragraph 5 applies) shall be deemed to be a permanent establishment in the first-mentioned State, but only if a) he has and habitually exercises in the first-mentioned State, an authority to conclude contracts on behalf of the enterprise, unless his activities are limited to the purchase of goods or merchandise for the enterprise; or b) he habitually maintains in the first-mentioned State a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise from which he regularly fills orders or makes deliveries on behalf of the enterprise; or c) he habitually secures orders in the first-mentioned State wholly or almost wholly for the enterprise itself or for the enterprise and other enterprise which are controlled by it or have a controlling interest in it. 5. An enterprise of a Contracting State shall not be deemed to have a permanent establishment in the other Contracting State merely because it carries on business in that other State through a broker, general commission agent or any other agent of an independent status, where such persons are acting in the ordinary course of their business. 6. The fact that a company which is resident of a Contracting State has a subsidiary which is a resident of the other Contracting State, or which carries on a trade or business in that other Contracting State (whether through a permanent establishment or otherwise), shall not of itself make that subsidiary a permanent establishment of its parent company. |