CONVENTION
BETWEEN
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF THAILAND
AND
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF FINLAND
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 the Government of the Republic of Finland, Desiring to conclude a Convention 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 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 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, as well as taxes on capital appreciation. 3. The existing taxes to which the Convention shall apply are: (a) in Finland: (i) the state income tax; (ii) the communal tax; (iii) the church tax; (iv) the sailors tax; and (v) the tax withheld at source from non-residents income; (hereinafter referred to as Finnish tax); (b) in Thailand: (i) the income tax; and (ii) the petroleum income tax; (herinafter referred to as Thai tax) 4. The Convention shall apply also to any identical or substantially similar taxes on income which are imposed after the date of signature of the Convention 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 Convention, unless the context otherwise requires: a) the term Finland means the Republic of Finland and, when used in a geographical sense, means the territory of the Republic of Finland, and any area adjacent to the territorial waters of the Republic of Finland within which, under the laws of Finland and in accordance with international law, the rights of Finland with respect to the exploration and exploitation of the natural resources of the sea bed and its sub-soil 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 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 sub- soil and their natural reasources may be exercised; c) the terms a Contracting State and the other Contracting State mean Finland or Thailand, as the context requires: d) the term person includes an individual, an estate, a company and any other body of persons which is treated as an entity for tax purposes; e) the term company means any body corporate or any entity which is treated as a body corporate under the tax laws of the respective Contracting States; 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 tax means Finnish tax or Thai tax, as the context requires; 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 where the ship or aircraft is operated solely between places in the other Contracting State; j) the term competent authority means: (i) in Finland, the Minister of Finance or his authorised representative; (ii) in Thailand, the Minister of Finance or his authorised representative. 2. As regards the application of the Convention by a Contracting State any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning which it has under the laws of that State concerning the taxes to which the Convention applies. ARTICLE 4
RESIDENT 1. For the purposes of this Convention, 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 or any other criterion of a similar nature. An undivided estate of a deceased person shall, for the purposes of taxation in Finland, be deemed to be a resident of the Contracting State of which the deceased was a resident at the time of his death according to the preceding sentence or the provisions of paragraph 2. However, the term resident of a Contracting State 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 States shall settle the question by mutual agreement. 3. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1, a person other than an individual 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 the Contracting State of which it derives its legal status. If a person under this criterion still is a resident of both Contracting States, 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 Convention, 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 farm or plantation; g) a mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry or any other place of extraction of natural resources; h) premises used as a sales outlet; i) a warehouse, in relation to a person providing storage facilities for others. 3. The term permanent establishment likewise encompasses: a) a building site, a construction, an assembly or installation project or supervisory activities in connection therewith, but only where such site, project or activities continue for a period or periods aggregating more than 183 days; b) the furnishing of services, including consultancy services, by an enterprise through employees or other personnel engaged by the enterprise for such purpose, but only where activities of that nature continue (for the same or a connected project) within the country for a period or periods aggregating more than 183 days. 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 of collecting information, for the enterprise; e) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of carrying on, for the enterprise, any other activity of a preparatory or auxiliary character; f) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for any combination of activities mentioned in sub-paragraphs 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. A person (other than a broker, general commission agent or any other agent of an independent status to whom paragraph 6 applies) acting in a Contracting State on behalf of an enterprise of the other Contracting State shall be deemed to be a permanent establishment of that enterprise in the first-mentioned State, 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 activities mentioned in sub- paragraphs a) to e) of paragraph 4, 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 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 or for the enterprise and other enterprises which are controlled by it or have a controlling interest in it. 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 Contracting 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. For this purpose, an agent shall not be considered to be an agent of an independent status if it carries on in that other State an activity described in paragraph 5 substantially for the enterprise or for the enterprise and other enterprises which are controlled by it or have a controlling interest in it. 7. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, and 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 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. 8. 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 Contracting State (whether through a permanent establishment or otherwise), shall not of itself constitute either company a permanent establishment of the other. | 
