AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF THAILAND AND HIS MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT OF NEPAL FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION AND THE PREVENTION OF FISCAL EVASION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME The Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and His Majesty's Government of Nepal 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. This Agreement shall apply to taxes on income imposed on behalf of a Contracting State or of its 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 enterprises, as well as taxes on capital appreciation. 3. The existing taxes to which the Agreement shall apply are in particular: (a) In the case of Thailand: - the income tax; and - the petroleum income tax; (hereinafter referred to as"Thai tax") (b) In the case of Nepal; - the income tax imposed under the Income Tax Act; (hereinafter referred to as "Nepal tax") 4. The Agreement shall apply also to any identical or substantially similar taxes which are imposed after the date of signature of the Agreement in addition to, or in place of , the existing taxes. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall notify each other of significant changes which have been made in their respective taxation laws. ARTICLE 3 GENERAL DEFINITIONS 1. For the purposes of this Agreement, unless the context otherwise requires: (a) the term "Thailand" means the Kingdom of Thailand.; (b) the term "Nepal"means the Kingdom of Nepal; (c) the terms "a Contracting State" and "the other Contracting State" mean Thailand or Nepal as the context requires; (d) the term "person" includes an individual, a company and any other body of persons as well as any entity treated as a taxable unit under the taxation laws in force in either Contracting State; (e) the term "company " means any body corporate or any entity which is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes; (f) the term " 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; (g) the term "tax " means Thai tax or Nepal tax as the context requires, but shall not include any amount which is payable in respect of any default or omissions in relation to the taxes to which this Agreement applies or which represents a penalty imposed relating to these taxes; (h) the term " national" means (i) any individual possessing the nationality of a Contracting State; (ii) any legal person, partnership, association and any other entity deriving its status as such from the laws in force in a Contracting State; (i) the term "international traffic " means any transport by a ship or aircraft operated by an enterprise of a Contracting State, except when the ship or aircraft is operated solely between places in the other Contracting State; and (j) the term " competent authority " means, in the case of Thailand, the Minister of Finance or his authorized representative, and, in the case of Nepal the Minister of Finance or his authorized representative; 2. As regards the application of the Agreement by a Contracting State, any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning which it has under the law of that Contracting State concerning the taxes to which the Agreement applies. ARTICLE 4 RESIDENT 1. For the purposes of this Agreement, the term "resident of a Contracting State" means any person who, under the laws of that State, is liable to tax therein by reason of his domicile, residence, place of incorporation, place of management or any other criterion of a similar nature. But this term does not include any person who is liable to tax in that State in respect only of income from sources in that State. 2. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1 an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then his status shall be determined as follows; (a) he shall be deemed to be a resident of the State in which he has a permanent home available to him; if he has a permanent home available to him in both States, he shall be deemed to be a resident of the State with which his personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests ); (b) if the 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 State, he shall be deemed to be a resident of the State in which he has an habitual abode; (c) if he has an habitual abode in both States or in neither of them, he shall be deemed to be a resident of the State of which he is a national; (d) if he is a national of both States or of neither of them, the competent authorities of the Contracting State shall settle the question by mutual agreement. 3. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1 a company is a resident of both Contracting States, it shall be deemed to be a resident of the Contracting State in which it is incorporated or under the law of which it is deemed to be a resident, if the company under the foregoing criterion still is a resident of both Contracting States, then it shall be deemed to be a resident of the Contracting State in which its place of effective management is situated. If the State in which its place of effective management is situated cannot be determined, then the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall settle the question by mutual agreement. ARTICLE 5 PERMANENT ESTABLISHMENT 1. For the purposes of this Agreement, the term "permanent establishment " means a fixed place of business through which the business of an enterprise is wholly or partly carried on. 2.. The term " permanent establishment " includes especially: (a) a place of management; (b) a branch; (c) an office; (d) a factory; (e) a workshop; (f) a mine, oil or gas well, quarry or any other place of extraction of natural resources; (g) a farm or plantation; (h) a warehouse, in relation to a person providing storage facilities for others; (i) a building site, a construction, installation or assembly project or supervisory activities in connection therewith, where such site, project or activities continue for a period of more than 183 days; (j) the furnishing of services including consultancy services by a resident of one of the Contracting States through employees or other personnel, where activities of that nature continue for the same or a connected project within the other Contracting State for a period or periods aggregating more than 183 days within any twelve-month period. 3. 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 or display 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 or display ; (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 fixed place of business solely for the purpose of purchasing goods or merchandise, or of collecting information, for the enterprise; (e) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of carrying on activities which have a preparatory or auxiliary character, for the enterprise; 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, where a person - other than an agent of an independent status to whom paragraph 6 applies - is acting in a Contracting State, on behalf of the enterprise of the other Contracting State, the enterprise shall be deemed to have a permanent establishment in the first- mentioned Contracting State, in respect of any activities which that person undertakes for the enterprise, if such a person; (a) 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; (b) has no such authority, but habitually maintains in the first - mentioned State a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise from which he fills orders or makes deliveries on behalf of the enterprise; or (c) has no such authority, but habitually secures orders in the first-mentioned State wholly or almost wholly for the enterprise or for the enterprise and other enterprises which are controlled by it or have a controlling interest in it; 5. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, an insurance enterprise of a Contracting state shall, except in regard to reinsurance, be deemed to have a permanent establishment in the other State if it collects premiums in the territory of that other State or insures risks situated therein through an employee or through a representative who is not an agent of an independent status within the meaning of paragraph 6. 6. 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, provided that such persons are acting in the ordinary course of their business. However, when the activities of such an agent are devoted wholly or almost wholly on behalf of that enterprise or on behalf of that enterprise and other enterprises, which are controlled by it or have a controlling interest in it, he will not be considered an agent of independent status within the meaning of this paragraph. 7. The fact that a company which is a resident of a Contracting State controls or is controlled by a company which is resident of the other Contracting State, or which carries on business in that other State (whether through a permanent establishment or otherwise), shall not of itself constitute either company a permanent establishment of the other. |