AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF THAILAND
AND
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MAURITIUS
FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION WITH
RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME The Government of the Republic of Mauritius and the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand, Desiring to conclude an Agreement for the avoidance of double taxation 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, its local authorities or its political subdivisions, 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 as well as taxes on the total amount of wages or salaries paid by enterprises. 3. The existing taxes to which this Agreement shall apply are in particular: (a) in Mauritius, the income tax; (hereinafter referred to as "Mauritius tax"); (b) in Thailand: (i) the income tax; and (ii) the petroleum income tax; (hereinafter referred to as Thai tax). 4. This Agreement shall also apply to any other taxes of a substantially similar character which are imposed on behalf of either Contracting State after the date of signature of this Agreement in addition to, or in place of, the existing taxes. 5. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall notify each other of any significant changes which have been made in their respective taxation laws, and if it seems desirable to amend any Article of this Agreement, without affecting the general principles thereof, the necessary amendments may be made by mutual consent by means of an Exchange of Notes. ARTICLE 3
GENERAL DEFINITIONS 1. In this Agreement, unless the context otherwise requires: (a) the term "Mauritius" means the Republic of Mauritius and includes: (i) all the territories and islands which, in accordance with the laws of Mauritius, constitute the State of Mauritius; (ii) the territorial sea of Mauritius; and (iii) any area outside the territorial sea of Mauritius which in accordance with international law has been or may hereafter be designated, under the laws of Mauritius, as an area, including the Continental Shelf, within which the rights of Mauritius with respect to the sea, the sea-bed and sub-soil and their natural resources may be exercised; (b) the term "Thailand" means the Kingdom of Thailand and includes any area adjacent to the territorial waters of the Kingdom of Thailand which by Thai legislation, and in accordance with the international law, has been or may hereafter be designated as an area within which the rights of the Kingdom of Thailand with respect to the sea- bed and subsoil and their natural resources may be exercised; (c) the terms "a Contracting State" and "the other Contracting State" mean Mauritius or Thailand, as the context requires; (d) the term "company" means any body corporate or any entity which is treated as a company or body corporate for tax purposes; (e) the term "competent authority" means: (i) in the case of Mauritius, the Minister of Finance or his authorised representative; and (ii) in the case of Thailand, the Minister of Finance or his authorised representative; (f) 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; (g) 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; (h) the term "national" means any individual possessing the nationality or citizenship of a Contracting State and any legal person, partnership (société), association or any other entity deriving its status as such from the laws in force in a Contracting State; (i) the term "person" includes an individual, a company, a trust, an undivided estate and any other body of persons which is treated as an entity for tax purposes; and (j) the term "tax" means Mauritius tax or Thai tax, as the context requires. 2. As regards the application of the Agreement at any time by a Contracting State, any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning that it has at that time under the law of that State for the purposes of the taxes to which the Agreement applies, any meaning under the applicable tax laws of that State prevailing over a meaning given to the term under other laws of that State. 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 and also includes that State and any local authority or political subdivision thereof. This term, however, 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 in accordance with the following rules: (a) he shall be deemed to be a resident only 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 does not have a permanent home available to him in either State, he shall be deemed to be a resident only 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 only 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 States shall endeavour to 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 endeavour to 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" shall include especially: (a) a place of management; (b) a branch; (c) an office; (d) a factory; (e) a workshop; (f) a warehouse, in relation to a person providing storage facilities for others; (g) a farm or plantation; (h) a mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry or any other place of extraction of natural resources; and (i) an installation or structure used for the exploration of natural resources. 3. The term "permanent establishment" likewise encompasses: (a) a building site or construction, installation or assembly project, or supervisory activities in connection therewith only if the site, project or activity lasts more than 6 months. (b) the furnishing of services including consultancy services by an enterprise of a Contracting State through employees or other personnel engaged in the other Contracting State, provided that such activities continue for the same or a connected project for a period or periods aggregating to more than 6 months within any twelve-month period. 4. 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 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; and (f) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for any combination of activities mentioned in subparagraphs (a) to (e), provided that the overall activity of the fixed place of business resulting from this combination is of a preparatory or auxiliary character. 5. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, a person acting in a Contracting State on behalf of an enterprise of the other Contracting State (other than an agent of an independent status to whom paragraph 6 of this Article applies), shall be deemed to be a permanent establishment in that State, although he has no fixed place of business in the first-mentioned State, if: (a) he has, and habitually exercises, an authority in the first·mentioned State to conclude contracts on behalf of the enterprise, unless his activities are limited to the purchase of goods or merchandise for the enterprise; (b) he maintains in the first·mentioned State a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise from which he regularly delivers goods or merchandise on behalf of the enterprise. 6. An enterprise shall not be deemed to have a permanent establishment in a Contracting State merely because it carries on business in that 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. 7. The fact that a company which is a resident of a Contracting State controls or is controlled by a company which is a 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. | 
