DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

TECHNICAL EXPLANATION OF THE PROTOCOL 

SIGNED AT BERLIN ON JUNE 1, 2006 

AMENDING THE CONVENTION BETWEEN 

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

AND 

THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY 

FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION 

AND THE PREVENTION OF FISCAL EVASION 

WITH RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME AND CAPITAL 

AND TO CERTAIN OTHER TAXES 

SIGNED ON 29TH AUGUST 1989 

 This is a technical explanation of the Protocol signed at Berlin on June 1, 2006 

(the "Protocol"), amending the Convention between the United States of America and the 

Federal Republic of Germany for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of 

fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and capital and to certain other taxes, and 

the related protocol, signed at Bonn on August 29, 1989 (hereinafter the "Convention" 

and "Protocol to the Convention" respectively). 

Negotiations took into account the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s current tax 

treaty policy and Treasury’s Model Income Tax Convention, published on September 20, 

1996 (the "1996 U.S. Model").1 Negotiations also took into account the Model Tax 

Convention on Income and on Capital, published by the Organisation for Economic 

Cooperation and Development (the "OECD Model"), and recent tax treaties concluded by 

both countries. 

This Technical Explanation is an official guide to the Protocol. It explains 

policies behind particular provisions, as well as understandings reached during the 

negotiations with respect to the interpretation and application of the Protocol. This 

technical explanation is not intended to provide a complete guide to the Convention as 

amended by the Protocol. To the extent that the Convention has not been amended by the 

Protocol, the Technical Explanation of the Convention remains the official explanation. 

Moreover, Article XVI of the Protocol restates and updates the Protocol to the 

Convention. This technical explanation discusses only those aspects of Article XVI that 

amend the Protocol to the Convention. To the extent that a paragraph from the Protocol 

to the Convention has not been changed, the technical explanation to the Convention 

remains the official explanation. References in this technical explanation to "he" or "his" 

should be read to mean "he or she" or "his or her." 

Article I 

Article I of the Protocol replaces Article 1 (Personal Scope) of the Convention 

with a new Article 1 (General Scope). 

1 Where appropriate references will also be made to Treasury’s Model Income Tax Convention, published 

on November 15, 2006 (the "2006 U.S. Model"). 
Paragraph 1 

Paragraph 1 of Article 1 provides that the Convention applies only to residents of 

the United States or the Federal Republic of Germany, except where the terms of the 

Convention provide otherwise. Under Article 4 (Residence), a person is generally treated 

as a resident of a Contracting State if that person is, under the laws of that Contracting 

State, liable to tax therein by reason of his domicile, residence, citizenship, place of 

management, place of incorporation, or other similar criteria. However, if a person is 

considered a resident of both Contracting States, Article 4 provides rules for determining 

a single Contracting State of residence (or no Contracting State of residence). This 

determination governs for all purposes of the Convention. 

Certain provisions are applicable to persons who may not be residents of either 

Contracting State. For example, paragraph 1 of Article 24 (Nondiscrimination) applies to 

nationals of the Contracting States. Under Article 26 (Exchange of Information and 

Administrative Assistance), information may be exchanged with respect to residents of 

third states. 

Paragraph 2 

Paragraph 2 states the generally accepted relationship both between the 

Convention and domestic law of the Contracting States and between the Convention and 

other agreements between the Contracting States. That is, no provision in the Convention 

may restrict any exclusion, exemption, deduction, credit or other allowance accorded by 

the tax laws of the Contracting States, or (except as provided in paragraph 3 with respect 

to non-discrimination provisions) by any other agreement between the Contracting States. 

Under paragraph 2, for example, if a deduction would be allowed under the U.S. 

Internal Revenue Code (the "Code") in computing the U.S. taxable income of a resident 

of the Federal Republic of Germany, the deduction also is allowed to that person in 

computing taxable income under the Convention. Paragraph 2 also means that the 

Convention may not increase the tax burden on a resident of a Contracting State beyond 

the burden determined under domestic law. Thus, a right to tax given by the Convention 

cannot be exercised unless that right also exists under internal law. 

It follows that, under the principle of paragraph 2, a taxpayer’s U.S. tax liability 

need not be determined under the Convention if the Code would produce a more 

favorable result. A taxpayer may not, however, choose among the provisions of the Code 

and the Convention in an inconsistent manner in order to minimize tax. For example, 

assume that a resident of the Federal Republic of Germany has three separate businesses 

in the United States. One is a profitable permanent establishment and the other two are 

trades or businesses that would earn taxable income under the Code but that do not meet 

the permanent establishment threshold tests of the Convention. One is profitable and the 

other incurs a loss. Under the Convention, the income of the permanent establishment is 

taxable in the United States, and both the profit and loss of the other two businesses are 

ignored. Under the Code, all three would be subject to tax, but the loss would offset the 

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profits of the two profitable ventures. The taxpayer may not invoke the Convention to 

exclude the profits of the profitable trade or business and invoke the Code to claim the 

loss of the loss trade or business against the profit of the permanent establishment. (See 

Rev. Rul. 84-17, 1984-1 C.B. 308.) If, however, the taxpayer invokes the Code for the 

taxation of all three ventures, he would not be precluded from invoking the Convention 

with respect, for example, to any dividend income he may receive from the United States 

that is not effectively connected with any of his business activities in the United States. 

Similarly, nothing in the Convention can be used to deny any benefit granted by 

any other agreement between the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany. 

For example, if certain benefits are provided for military personnel or military contractors 

under a Status of Forces Agreement between the United States and the Federal Republic 

of Germany, those benefits or protections will be available to residents of the Contracting 

States regardless of any provisions to the contrary (or silence) in the Convention. 

Paragraph 3 

Paragraph 3 specifically relates to non-discrimination obligations of the 

Contracting States under other agreements. The provisions of paragraph 3 are an 

exception to the rule provided in subparagraph (b) of paragraph 2 of this Article under 

which the Convention shall not restrict in any manner any benefit now or hereafter 

accorded by any other agreement between the Contracting States. 

Clause (aa) of subparagraph (a) of paragraph 3 provides that, notwithstanding any 

other agreement to which the Contracting States may be parties, a dispute concerning the 

interpretation or application of the Convention, including a dispute concerning whether a 

taxation measure is within the scope of the Convention, shall be considered only by the 

competent authorities of the Contracting States, and the procedures under Article 25 

(Mutual Agreement Procedure) of the Convention exclusively shall apply to the dispute. 

Thus, dispute-resolution procedures that may be incorporated into trade, investment, or 

other agreements between the Contracting States shall not apply in determining the 

interpretation, application, or scope of the Convention. 

Clause (bb) of subparagraph (a) of paragraph 3 provides that no other agreement 

to which the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany are parties shall apply 

with respect to a taxation measure unless the competent authorities agree that the measure 

is not within the scope of the non-discrimination provisions of Article 24 

(Nondiscrimination) of the Convention. Accordingly, if the non-discrimination 

provisions of this Convention apply to a taxation measure, no national treatment or mostfavored-nation (“MFN”) obligations undertaken by the Contracting States in any other 

agreement shall apply to that taxation measure. 

Subparagraph (b) of paragraph 3 defines a “measure” broadly. It would include, 

for example, a law, regulation, rule, procedure, decision, administrative action or 

guidance, or any other form of measure. 

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Paragraph 4 

Subparagraph (a) of paragraph 4 contains the traditional saving clause found in all 

U.S. treaties. The United States reserves the right, except as provided in paragraph 5, to 

tax its residents and citizens as provided in its internal law, notwithstanding any 

provisions of the Convention to the contrary. For example, if a resident of the Federal 

Republic of Germany performs professional services in the United States and the income 

from the services is not attributable to a permanent establishment in the United States, 

Article 7 (Business Profits) would by its terms prevent the United States from taxing the 

income. If, however, the resident of the Federal Republic of Germany is also a citizen of 

the United States, the saving clause permits the United States to include the remuneration 

in the worldwide income of the citizen and subject it to tax under the normal Code rules 

(i.e., without regard to Code section 894(a)). However, subparagraph 5(a) of Article 1 

preserves the benefits of special foreign tax credit rules applicable to the U.S. taxation of 

certain U.S. income of its citizens resident in the Federal Republic of Germany. See 

paragraph 5 of Article 23 (Relief from Double Taxation). 

For purposes of the saving clause, “residence” is determined under Article 4 

(Residence). Thus, an individual who is a resident of the United States under the Code 

(but not a U.S. citizen) but who is determined to be a resident of the Federal Republic of 

Germany under the tie-breaker rules of Article 4 would be subject to U.S. tax only to the 

extent permitted by the Convention. The United States would not be permitted to apply 

its statutory rules to that person to the extent the rules are inconsistent with the treaty. 

However, the person would be treated as a U.S. resident for U.S. tax purposes 

other than determining the individual's U.S. tax liability. For example, in determining 

under Code section 957 whether a foreign corporation is a controlled foreign corporation, 

shares in that corporation held by the individual would be considered to be held by a U.S. 

resident. As a result, other U.S. citizens or residents might be deemed to be United States 

shareholders of a controlled foreign corporation subject to current inclusion of subpart F 

income recognized by the corporation. See, Treas. Reg. section 301.7701(b)-7(a)(3). 

Subparagraph (b) provides that the United States also reserves its right to tax 

former citizens and former long-term residents for a period of ten years following the loss 

of such status. Thus, paragraph 4 allows the United States to tax former U.S. citizens and 

former U.S. long-term residents in accordance with section 877 of the Code. Section 877 

generally applies to a former citizen or long-term resident of the United States who 

relinquishes citizenship or terminates long-term residency if either of the following 

criteria exceed established thresholds: (i) the average annual net income tax of such 

individual for the period of five taxable years ending before the date of the loss of status, 

or (ii) the net worth of such individual as of the date of the loss of status. The average 

annual net income tax threshold is adjusted annually for inflation. 

Paragraph 1 of Article XVI of the Protocol makes clear that the definition of a 

"long-term resident" found in section 877 applies for purposes of subparagraph b) of 

paragraph 4 of Article 1. Section 877 defines a “long-term resident” as an individual 

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(other than a U.S. citizen) who is a lawful permanent resident of the United States in at 

least eight of the prior 15 taxable years. An individual is not treated as a lawful 

permanent resident for any taxable year if such individual is treated as a resident of a 

foreign country under the provisions of a tax treaty between the United States and the 

foreign country and the individual does not waive the benefits of such treaty applicable to 

residents of the foreign country. 

Paragraph 5 

Paragraph 5 sets forth certain exceptions to the saving clause. The referenced 

provisions are intended to provide benefits to citizens and residents even if such benefits 

do not exist under internal law. Paragraph 5 thus preserves these benefits for citizens and 

residents of the United States. 

Subparagraph (a) lists certain provisions of the Convention that are applicable to 

all citizens and residents of the United States, despite the general saving clause rule of 

paragraph 4: 

(1) Paragraph 2 of Article 9 (Associated Enterprises) grants the right to a 

correlative adjustment with respect to income tax due on profits reallocated under 

Article 9. 

(2) Paragraph 6 of Article 13 (Gains) provides special basis adjustment rules for 

the taxation of gains in a Contracting State derived by an individual who upon 

ceasing to be a resident of the other Contracting States is treated under the 

taxation laws of that State as having alienated property and is taxed in that State 

by reason thereof. 

(3) Paragraph 3, 4 and 5 Article 18 (Pensions, Annuities, Alimony, Child Support, 

and Social Security) provides exemptions from source or residence State taxation 

for certain alimony, child support, and social security payments. 

(4) Paragraph 1 of Article 18A (Pension Plans) provides an exemption for certain 

investment income of pension funds located in the other Contracting State, while 

paragraph 5 provides benefits for certain contributions by or on behalf of a U.S. 

citizen to certain pension funds established in the Federal Republic of Germany. 

(5) Paragraph 3 of Article 19 (Government Services) provides that only the 

Contracting State that makes payments to a resident of the other Contracting State 

may tax payments which are compensation for injury or damage suffered as a 

result of hostility or persecution. This refers to German war reparations 

payments. This prevents the United States from taxing these payments even if 

they would be taxable under the Code. 

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(6) Article 23 (Relief from Double Taxation) confirms to citizens and residents of 

one Contracting State the benefit of a credit for income taxes paid to the other or 

an exemption for income earned in the other State. 

(7) Article 24 (Nondiscrimination) protects residents and nationals of one 

Contracting State against the adoption of certain discriminatory practices in the 

other Contracting State. 

(8) Article 25 (Mutual Agreement Procedure) confers certain benefits on citizens 

and residents of the Contracting States in order to reach and implement solutions 

to disputes between the two Contracting States. For example, the competent 

authorities are permitted to use a definition of a term that differs from an internal 

law definition. The statute of limitations may be waived for refunds, so that the 

benefits of an agreement may be implemented. 

Subparagraph (b) of paragraph 5 provides a different set of exceptions to the 

saving clause. The benefits referred to are all intended to be granted to temporary 

residents of the United States (for example, holders of non-immigrant visas), but not to 

citizens or to persons who have acquired permanent resident status in the United States. 

If beneficiaries of these provisions travel from the Federal Republic of Germany to the 

United States, and remain in the United States long enough to become residents under its 

internal law, but do not acquire permanent residence status in the United States (i.e., they 

do not become "green card" holders) and are not citizens of the United States, the United 

State will continue to grant these benefits even if they conflict with the Code. The 

benefits preserved by this paragraph are: the beneficial tax treatment of pension fund 

contributions under paragraph 2 of Article 18A (Pension Plans), the host country 

exemptions for government service salaries and pensions under Article 19 (Government 

Service), certain income of visiting students and trainees under Article 20 (Visiting 

Professors and Teachers; Students and Trainees), and the income of the members of 

diplomatic missions and consular posts under Article 30 (Members of Diplomatic 

Missions and Consular Posts). 

Paragraph 6 

Paragraph 6 contains a rule relating to German tax. In much the same way that 

the saving clause preserves U.S. taxing rights with respect to its citizens and residents, 

this paragraph preserves German statutory rights with respect to the income of German 

residents. It further provides that if any tax imposed by virtue of this paragraph results in 

double taxation, the competent authorities will seek to eliminate the double taxation by 

use of the mutual agreement procedure, particularly paragraph 3 of Article 25 (Mutual 

Agreement Procedure) which provides, among other things, for consultation between the 

competent authorities to eliminate double taxation in cases not provided for in the 

Convention. 

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Paragraph 7 

Paragraph 7 addresses special issues presented by fiscally transparent entities such 

as partnerships and certain estates and trusts. Because different countries frequently take 

different views as to when an entity is fiscally transparent, the risk of both double 

taxation and double non-taxation are relatively high. The intention of paragraph 7 is to 

eliminate a number of technical problems that arguably would have prevented investors 

using such entities from claiming treaty benefits, even though such investors would be 

subject to tax on the income derived through such entities. The provision also prevents 

the use of such entities to claim treaty benefits in circumstances where the person 

investing through such an entity is not subject to tax on the income in its State of 

residence. The provision, and the corresponding requirements of the substantive rules of 

Articles 6 through 21, should be read with those two goals in mind. 

In general, paragraph 7 relates to entities that are not subject to tax at the entity 

level, as distinct from entities that are subject to tax, but with respect to which tax may be 

relieved under an integrated system. This paragraph applies to any resident of a 

Contracting State who is entitled to income derived through an entity that is treated as 

fiscally transparent under the laws of either Contracting State. Entities falling under this 

description in the United States include partnerships, common investment trusts under 

section 584 and grantor trusts. This paragraph also applies to U.S. limited liability 

companies (“LLCs”) that are treated as partnerships or as disregarded entities for U.S. tax 

purposes. 

Under paragraph 7, an item of income, profit or gain derived by such a fiscally 

transparent entity will be considered to be derived by a resident of a Contracting State if a 

resident is treated under the taxation laws of that State as deriving the item of income. 

For example, if a German company pays interest to an entity that is treated as fiscally 

transparent for U.S. tax purposes, the interest will be considered derived by a resident of 

the U.S. only to the extent that the taxation laws of the United States treats one or more 

U.S. residents (whose status as U.S. residents is determined, for this purpose, under U.S. 

tax law) as deriving the interest for U.S. tax purposes. In the case of a partnership, the 

persons who are, under U.S. tax laws, treated as partners of the entity would normally be 

the persons whom the U.S. tax laws would treat as deriving the interest income through 

the partnership. Also, it follows that persons whom the United States treats as partners 

but who are not U.S. residents for U.S. tax purposes may not claim a benefit for the 

interest paid to the entity under the Convention, because they are not residents of the 

United States for purposes of claiming this treaty benefit. (If, however, the country in 

which they are treated as resident for tax purposes, as determined under the laws of that 

country, has an income tax convention with the Federal Republic of Germany, they may 

be entitled to claim a benefit under that convention.) In contrast, if, for example, an 

entity is organized under U.S. laws and is classified as a corporation for U.S. tax 

purposes, interest paid by a German company to the U.S. entity will be considered 

derived by a resident of the United States since the U.S. corporation is treated under U.S. 

taxation laws as a resident of the United States and as deriving the income. 

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The same result obtains even if the entity were viewed differently under the tax 

laws of the country of source (e.g., as not fiscally transparent in the Federal Republic of 

Germany in the first example above where the entity is treated as a partnership for U.S. 

tax purposes). Similarly, the characterization of the entity in a third country is also 

irrelevant, even if the entity is organized in that third country. The results follow 

regardless of whether the entity is disregarded as a separate entity under the laws of one 

jurisdiction but not the other, such as a single owner entity that is viewed as a branch for 

U.S. tax purposes and as a corporation for German tax purposes. These results also obtain 

regardless of where the entity is organized (i.e., in the United States, in the Federal 

Republic of Germany, or, as noted above, in a third country). 

For example, income from U.S. sources received by an entity organized under the 

laws of the United States, which is treated for German tax purposes as a corporation and 

is owned by a German shareholder who is a German resident for German tax purposes, is 

not considered derived by the shareholder of that corporation even if, under the tax laws 

of the United States, the entity is treated as fiscally transparent. Rather, for purposes of 

the treaty, the income is treated as derived by the U.S. entity. 

These principles also apply to trusts to the extent that they are fiscally transparent 

in either Contracting State. For example, if X, a resident of the Federal Republic of 

Germany, creates a revocable trust in the United States and names persons resident in a 

third country as the beneficiaries of the trust, the trust’s income would be regarded as 

being derived by a resident of the Federal Republic of Germany only to the extent that the 

laws of the Federal Republic of Germany treat X as deriving the income for its tax 

purposes, perhaps through application of rules similar to the U.S. “grantor trust” rules. 

Paragraph 7 is not an exception to the saving clause of paragraph 4. Accordingly, 

paragraph 7 does not prevent the United States from taxing an entity that is treated as a 

resident of the United States under its tax law. For example, if a U.S. LLC with members 

who are residents of the Federal Republic of Germany elects to be taxed as a corporation 

for U.S. tax purposes, the United States will tax that LLC on its worldwide income on a 

net basis, without regard to whether the Federal Republic of Germany views the LLC as 

fiscally transparent. 

Article II 

Article II of the Protocol modifies Article 4 (Residence) of the Convention by 

replacing paragraph 1, which defines the term “resident of a Contracting State”. As a 

general matter only residents of the Contracting States may claim the benefits of the 

Convention. The treaty definition of residence is to be used only for purposes of the 

Convention. The fact that a person is determined to be a resident of a Contracting State 

under Article 4 does not necessarily entitle that person to the benefits of the Convention. 

In addition to being a resident, a person also must qualify for benefits under Article 28 

(Limitation on Benefits) in order to receive benefits conferred on residents of a 

Contracting State. 

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Paragraph 1 

The term “resident of a Contracting State” is defined in paragraph 1. In general, 

this definition incorporates the definitions of residence in U.S. and German law by 

referring to a resident as a person who, under the laws of a Contracting State, is subject to 

tax therein by reason of his domicile, residence, place of management, place of 

incorporation or any other similar criterion. Thus, residents of the United States 

generally include U.S. citizens, U.S. green card holders, and aliens who are considered 

U.S. residents under Code section 7701(b). Paragraph 1 also specifically includes the 

United States, the Federal Republic of Germany, and political subdivisions and local 

authorities of the two States as residents for purposes of the Convention. 

Certain entities that are nominally subject to tax but that in practice are rarely 

required to pay tax also would generally be treated as residents and therefore accorded 

treaty benefits. For example, a U.S. Regulated Investment Company (RIC) and a U.S. 

Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) are residents of the United States for purposes of the 

treaty. Although the income earned by these entities normally is not subject to U.S. tax in 

the hands of the entity, they are taxable to the extent that they do not currently distribute 

their profits, and therefore may be regarded as “liable to tax.” They also must satisfy a 

number of requirements under the Code in order to be entitled to special tax treatment. 

Subparagraph b) of paragraph 2 of Article XVI of the Protocol clarifies that, for purposes 

of the Convention, German Investment Funds and German Investmentaktiengesellschaft 

(collectively referred to as Investmentvermögen) created under the provisions of the 

Investment Act of 2003 (Investmentgesetz) are residents of the Federal Republic of 

Germany and that a U.S. RIC and a U.S. REIT are also residents of the United States. 

A person who is liable to tax in a Contracting State only in respect of income 

from sources within that State or capital situated therein or of profits attributable to a 

permanent establishment in that State will not be treated as a resident of that Contracting 

State for purposes of the Convention. Thus, a consular official of the Federal Republic of 

Germany who is posted in the United States, who may be subject to U.S. tax on U.S. 

source investment income, but is not taxable in the United States on non-U.S. source 

income (see Code section 7701(b)(5)(B)), would not be considered a resident of the 

United States for purposes of the Convention. Similarly, an enterprise of the Federal 

Republic of Germany with a permanent establishment in the United States is not, by 

virtue of that permanent establishment, a resident of the United States. The enterprise 

generally is subject to U.S. tax only with respect to its income that is attributable to the 

U.S. permanent establishment, not with respect to its worldwide income, as it would be if 

it were a U.S. resident. 

Subparagraph a) of paragraph 2 of Article XVI of the Protocol provides the 

Federal Republic of Germany shall treat a United States citizen or alien lawfully admitted 

for permanent residence (a “green card holder”) as a resident of the United States only if 

such person has a substantial presence (see section 7701(b)(3)), permanent home, or 

habitual abode in the United States. This rule requires that the U.S. citizen or green card 

9
holder have a reasonably strong economic nexus with the United States in order to claim 

German treaty benefits under the Convention. 

Article III 

Paragraph a) of Article III of the Protocol replaces paragraph 3 of Article 7 

(Business Profits) of the Convention. This paragraph is the same as paragraph 3 of 

Article 7 of the 2006 U.S. Model. Paragraph 3 provides that in determining the business 

profits of a permanent establishment, deductions shall be allowed for the expenses 

incurred for the purposes of the permanent establishment, ensuring that business profits 

will be taxed on a net basis. This rule is not limited to expenses incurred exclusively for 

the purposes of the permanent establishment, but includes expenses incurred for the 

purposes of the enterprise as a whole, or that part of the enterprise that includes the 

permanent establishment. Deductions are to be allowed regardless of which accounting 

unit of the enterprise books the expenses, so long as they are incurred for the purposes of 

the permanent establishment. For example, a portion of the interest expense recorded on 

the books of the home office in one State may be deducted by a permanent establishment 

in the other if properly allocable thereto. The amount of expense that must be allowed as 

a deduction is determined by applying the arm's length principle. 

Paragraph 4 of Article XVI of the Protocol provides rules for the attribution of 

business profits to a permanent establishment. The Contracting States will attribute to a 

permanent establishment the profits that it would have earned had it been a distinct and 

separate enterprise engaged in the same or similar activities under the same or similar 

conditions and dealing wholly independently with the enterprise of which it is a 

permanent establishment. 

Paragraph 4 of Article XVI of the Protocol states that it is understood that the 

business profits to be attributed to a permanent establishment shall include only the 

profits derived from the assets used, risks assumed, and activities performed by the 

permanent establishment. In addition, the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines apply, by 

analogy, in determining the profits attributable to a permanent establishment. 

Accordingly, a permanent establishment may deduct payments made to its head office or 

another branch in compensation for services performed for the benefit of the branch. The 

method to be used in calculating that amount will depend on the terms of the 

arrangements between the branches and head office. For example, the enterprise could 

have a policy, expressed in writing, under which each business unit could use the services 

of lawyers employed by the head office. At the end of each year, the costs of employing 

the lawyers would be allocated to each business unit according to the amount of services 

used by that business unit during the year. Since this appears to be a kind of cost-sharing 

arrangement and the allocation of costs is based on the benefits received by each business 

unit, it would be an acceptable means of determining a permanent establishment’s 

deduction for legal expenses. Alternatively, the head office could agree to employ 

lawyers at its own risk, and to charge an arm’s length price for legal services performed 

for a particular business unit. If the lawyers were under-utilized, and the “fees” received 

from the business units were less than the cost of employing the lawyers, then the head 

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office would bear the excess cost. If the “fees” exceeded the cost of employing the 

lawyers, then the head office would keep the excess to compensate it for assuming the 

risk of employing the lawyers. If the enterprise acted in accordance with this agreement, 

this method would be an acceptable alternative method for calculating a permanent 

establishment’s deduction for legal expenses. 

The permanent establishment cannot be funded entirely with debt, but must have 

sufficient capital to carry on its activities as if it were a distinct and separate enterprise. 

To the extent that the permanent establishment does not have such capital, a Contracting 

State may attribute such capital to the permanent establishment and deny an interest 

deduction to the extent necessary to reflect that capital attribution. The method 

prescribed by U.S. domestic law for making this attribution is found in Treas. Reg. § 

1.882-5. Both § 1.882-5 and the method prescribed in the Protocol start from the premise 

that all of the capital of the enterprise supports all of the assets and risks of the enterprise, 

and therefore the entire capital of the enterprise must be allocated to its various 

businesses and offices. 

However, § 1.882-5 does not take into account the fact that some assets create 

more risk for the enterprise than do other assets. An independent enterprise would need 

less capital to support a perfectly-hedged U.S. Treasury security than it would need to 

support an equity security or other asset with significant market and/or credit risk. 

Accordingly, in some cases § 1.882-5 would require a taxpayer to allocate more capital to 

the United States, and therefore would reduce the taxpayer’s interest deduction more, 

than is appropriate. To address these cases, paragraph 4 of Article XVI of the Protocol 

allows a taxpayer to apply a more flexible approach that takes into account the relative 

risk of its assets in the various jurisdictions in which it does business. In particular, in the 

case of financial institutions other than insurance companies, the amount of capital 

attributable to a permanent establishment is determined by allocating the institution’s 

total equity between its various offices on the basis of the proportion of the financial 

institution’s risk-weighted assets attributable to each of them. This recognizes the fact 

that financial institutions are in many cases required to risk-weight their assets for 

regulatory purposes and, in other cases, will do so for business reasons even if not 

required to do so by regulators. However, risk-weighting is more complicated than the 

method prescribed by § 1.882-5. Accordingly, to ease this administrative burden, 

taxpayers may choose to apply the principles of Treas. Reg. § 1.882-5(c) to determine the 

amount of capital allocable to its U.S. permanent establishment, in lieu of determining its 

allocable capital under the risk-weighed capital allocation method provided by the 

Protocol, even if it has otherwise chosen to apply the principles of Article 7 rather than 

the effectively connected income rules of U.S. domestic law. 

Paragraph 4 of Article XVI of the Protocol provides an alternative to the 

analogous but somewhat different "effectively connected" concept in Code section 

864(c). In effect, the Protocol allows the United States to tax the lesser of two amounts 

of income: the amount determined by applying U.S. rules regarding the calculation of 

effectively connected income and the amount determined under the Protocol. That is, a 

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taxpayer may choose the set of rules that results in the lowest amount of taxable income, 

but may not mix and match. 

In some cases, the amount of income "attributable to" a permanent establishment 

under the Protocol may be greater than the amount of income that would be treated as 

"effectively connected" to a U.S. trade or business under section 864. For example, a 

taxpayer that has a significant amount of foreign source royalty income attributable to a 

U.S. branch may find that it will pay less tax in the United States by applying section 

864(c) of the Code, rather than the rules of the Protocol, if the foreign source royalties are 

not derived in the active conduct of a trade or business and thus would not be effectively 

connected income. But, as described in the Technical Explanation to Article 1(2), if it 

does so, it may not then use the Protocol principles to exempt other income that would be 

effectively connected to the U.S. trade or business. Conversely, if it uses the Protocol 

principles to exempt other effectively connected income that is not attributable to its U.S. 

permanent establishment, then it must include the foreign source royalties in its net 

taxable income even though such royalties would not constitute effectively connected 

income. 

In the case of financial institutions, the use of internal dealings to allocate income 

within an enterprise may produce results under the Protocol that are significantly 

different than the results under the effectively connected income rules. For example, 

income from interbranch notional principal contracts may be taken into account under the 

Protocol, notwithstanding that such transactions may be ignored for purposes of U.S. 

domestic law. Under the consistency rule described above, a financial institution that 

conducts different lines of business through its U.S. permanent establishment may not 

choose to apply the rules of the Code with respect to some lines of business and the 

Protocol of the Convention with respect to others. If it chooses to use the rules of the 

Protocol to allocate its income from its trading book, it may not then use U.S. domestic 

rules to allocate income from its loan portfolio. 

The profits attributable to a permanent establishment may be from sources within 

or without a Contracting State. However, as stated in the Protocol, the business profits 

attributable to a permanent establishment include only those profits derived from the 

assets used, risks assumed, and activities performed by, the permanent establishment. 

The language of the Protocol, when combined with paragraph 3 dealing with the 

allowance of deductions for expenses incurred for the purposes of earning the profits, 

incorporates the arm's-length standard for purposes of determining the profits attributable 

to a permanent establishment. As noted below with respect to Article 9, the United States 

generally interprets the arm’s length standard in a manner consistent with the OECD 

Transfer Pricing Guidelines. 

The arm's length method consists of applying the OECD Transfer Pricing 

Guidelines, but taking into account the different economic and legal circumstances of a 

single legal entity (as opposed to separate but associated enterprises). Thus, any of the 

methods used in the Transfer Pricing Guidelines, including profits methods, may be used 

12
as appropriate and in accordance with the Transfer Pricing Guidelines. However, the use 

of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines applies only for purposes of attributing profits within 

the legal entity. It does not create legal obligations or other tax consequences that would 

result from transactions having independent legal significance. 

For example, an entity that operates through branches rather than separate 

subsidiaries will have lower capital requirements because all of the assets of the entity are 

available to support all of the entity’s liabilities (with some exceptions attributable to 

local regulatory restrictions). This is the reason that most commercial banks and some 

insurance companies operate through branches rather than subsidiaries. The benefit that 

comes from such lower capital costs must be allocated among the branches in an 

appropriate manner. This issue does not arise in the case of an enterprise that operates 

through separate entities, since each entity will have to be separately capitalized or will 

have to compensate another entity for providing capital (usually through a guarantee). 

Under U.S. domestic regulations, internal “transactions” generally are not 

recognized because they do not have legal significance. In contrast, the rule provided by 

the Protocol is that such internal dealings may be used to allocate income in cases where 

the dealings accurately reflect the allocation of risk within the enterprise. One example is 

that of global trading in securities. In many cases, banks use internal swap transactions to 

transfer risk from one branch to a central location where traders have the expertise to 

manage that particular type of risk. Under the Convention, such a bank may also use 

such swap transactions as a means of allocating income between the branches, if use of 

that method is the “best method” within the meaning of regulation section 1.482-1(c). 

The books of a branch will not be respected, however, when the results are inconsistent 

with a functional analysis. So, for example, income from a transaction that is booked in a 

particular branch (or home office) will not be treated as attributable to that location if the 

sales and risk management functions that generate the income are performed in another 

location. 

Because the use of profits methods is permissible under the Protocol, it is not 

necessary for the Convention to include a provision corresponding to paragraph 4 of 

Article 7 of the OECD Model. 

Paragraph b) of Article III of the Protocol provides that income from the 

performance of professional services and other activities of an independent character are 

business profits. 

Article IV 

Article IV of the Protocol replaces Article 10 (Dividends) of the Convention. 

Article 10 provides rules for the taxation of dividends paid by a company that is a 

resident of one Contracting State to a beneficial owner that is a resident of the other 

Contracting State. The article provides for full residence country taxation of such 

dividends and a limited source-State right to tax. Article 10 also provides rules for the 

imposition of a tax on branch profits by the State of source. Finally, the article prohibits 

13
a State from imposing taxes on a company resident in the other Contracting State, other 

than a branch profits tax, on undistributed earnings. 

Paragraph 1 

The right of a shareholder's country of residence to tax dividends arising in the 

source country is preserved by paragraph 1, which permits a Contracting State to tax its 

residents on dividends paid to them by a company that is a resident of the other 

Contracting State. For dividends from any other source paid to a resident, Article 21 

(Other Income) grants the residence country exclusive taxing jurisdiction (other than for 

dividends attributable to a permanent establishment in the other State). 

Paragraph 2 

The State of source also may tax dividends beneficially owned by a resident of the 

other State, subject to the limitations of paragraphs 2 and 3. Paragraph 2 generally limits 

the rate of withholding tax in the State of source on dividends paid by a company resident 

in that State to 15 percent of the gross amount of the dividend. If, however, the beneficial 

owner of the dividend is a company resident in the other State and owns directly shares 

representing at least 10 percent of the voting power of the company paying the dividend, 

then the rate of withholding tax in the State of source is limited to 5 percent of the gross 

amount of the dividend. Shares are considered voting shares if they provide the power to 

elect, appoint or replace any person vested with the powers ordinarily exercised by the 

board of directors of a U.S. corporation. 

The benefits of paragraph 2 may be granted at the time of payment by means of 

reduced rate of withholding tax at source. It also is consistent with the paragraph for tax 

to be withheld at the time of payment at full statutory rates, and the treaty benefit to be 

granted by means of a subsequent refund so long as such procedures are applied in a 

reasonable manner. 

The determination of whether the ownership threshold for subparagraph (a) of 

paragraph 2 is met for purposes of the 5 percent maximum rate of withholding tax is 

made on the date on which entitlement to the dividend is determined. Thus, in the case of 

a dividend from a U.S. company, the determination of whether the ownership threshold is 

met generally would be made on the dividend record date. 

Paragraph 2 does not affect the taxation of the profits out of which the dividends 

are paid. The taxation by a Contracting State of the income of its resident companies is 

governed by the internal law of the Contracting State, subject to the provisions of 

paragraph 4 of Article 24 (Nondiscrimination). 

The term "beneficial owner" is not defined in the Convention, and is, therefore, 

defined as under the internal law of the country imposing tax (i.e., the source country). 

The beneficial owner of the dividend for purposes of Article 10 is the person to which the 

dividend income is attributable under the laws of the source State. Thus, if a dividend 

14
paid by a corporation that is a resident of one of the States (as determined under Article 4 

(Residence)) is received by a nominee or agent that is a resident of the other State on 

behalf of a person that is not a resident of that other State, the dividend is not entitled to 

the benefits of this Article. However, a dividend received by a nominee on behalf of a 

resident of that other State would be entitled to benefits. These limitations are confirmed 

by paragraph 12 of the Commentary to Article 10 of the OECD Model. 

Companies holding shares through fiscally transparent entities such as 

partnerships are considered for purposes of this paragraph to hold their proportionate 

interest in the shares held by the intermediate entity. As a result, companies holding 

shares through such entities may be able to claim the benefits of subparagraph (a) under 

certain circumstances. The lower rate applies when the company’s proportionate share of 

the shares held by the intermediate entity meets the 10 percent threshold, and the 

company meets the requirements of Article 1(7) (i.e., the company's country of residence 

treats the intermediate entity as fiscally transparent) with respect to the dividend. 

Whether this ownership threshold is satisfied may be difficult to determine and often will 

require an analysis of the partnership or trust agreement. 

Paragraph 3 

Paragraph 3 provides exclusive residence-country taxation (i.e., an elimination of 

withholding tax) with respect to certain dividends distributed by a company that is a 

resident of one Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State. As 

described further below, this elimination of withholding tax is available with respect to 

certain inter-company dividends and with respect to certain pension funds. 

Subparagraph (a) of paragraph 3 provides for the elimination of withholding tax 

on dividends beneficially owned by a company that has owned 80 percent or more of the 

voting power of the company paying the dividend for the 12-month period ending on the 

date entitlement to the dividend is determined. The determination of whether the 

beneficial owner of the dividends owns at least 80 percent of the voting power of the 

paying company is made by taking into account only stock owned directly. 

Eligibility for the elimination of withholding tax provided by subparagraph (a) is 

subject to additional restrictions based on, but supplementing, the rules of Article 28 

(Limitation on Benefits). Accordingly, a company that meets the holding requirements 

described above will qualify for the benefits of paragraph 3 only if it also: (1) meets the 

"publicly traded" test of subparagraph 2(c) of Article 28 (Limitation on Benefits), (2) 

meets the "ownership-base erosion" and "active trade or business" tests described in 

subparagraph 2(f) and paragraph 4 of Article 28 (Limitation on Benefits), (3) meets the 

"derivative benefits" test of paragraph 3 of Article 28 (Limitation on Benefits), or (4) is 

granted the benefits of subparagraph 3(a) of Article 10 by the competent authority of the 

source State pursuant to paragraph 7 of Article 28 (Limitation on Benefits). 

These restrictions are necessary because of the increased pressure on the 

Limitation on Benefits tests resulting from the fact that the United States has relatively 

15
few treaties that provide for such elimination of withholding tax on inter-company 

dividends. The additional restrictions are intended to prevent companies from reorganizing in order to become eligible for the elimination of withholding tax in 

circumstances where the Limitation on Benefits provision does not provide sufficient 

protection against treaty-shopping. 

For example, assume that ThirdCo is a company resident in a third country that 

does not have a tax treaty with the United States providing for the elimination of 

withholding tax on inter-company dividends. ThirdCo owns directly 100 percent of the 

issued and outstanding voting stock of USCo, a U.S. company, and of GCo, a German 

company. GCo is a substantial company that manufactures widgets; USCo distributes 

those widgets in the United States. If ThirdCo contributes to GCo all the stock of USCo, 

dividends paid by USCo to GCo would qualify for treaty benefits under the active trade 

or business test of paragraph 4 of Article 28. However, allowing ThirdCo to qualify for 

the elimination of withholding tax, which is not available to it under the third state’s 

treaty with the United States (if any), would encourage treaty-shopping. 

In order to prevent this type of treaty-shopping, paragraph 3 requires GCo to meet 

the ownership-base erosion requirements of subparagraph 2(f) of Article 28 in addition to 

the active trade or business test of paragraph 4 of Article 28. Because GCo is wholly 

owned by a third country resident, GCo could not qualify for the elimination of 

withholding tax on dividends from USCo under the combined ownership-base erosion 

and active trade or business tests of paragraph 3(a)(bb). Consequently, GCo would need 

to qualify under another test in paragraph 3(a) or obtain discretionary relief from the 

competent authority under Article 28(7). For purpose of Article 3(a)(bb), it is not 

sufficient for a company to qualify for treaty benefits generally under the active trade or 

business test or the ownership-base erosion test unless it qualifies for treaty benefits 

under both. 

Alternatively, companies that are publicly traded or subsidiaries of publiclytraded companies will generally qualify for the elimination of withholding tax. Thus, a 

company that is a resident of the Federal Republic of Germany and that meets the 

requirements of Article 28(2)(c)(aa) or (bb) will be entitled to the elimination of 

withholding tax, subject to the 12-month holding period requirement of Article 10(3)(a). 

In addition, under Article 10(3)(a)(cc), a company that is a resident of a 

Contracting State may also qualify for the elimination of withholding tax on dividends if 

it satisfies the derivative benefits test of paragraph 3 of Article 28. Thus, a German 

company that owns all of the stock of a U.S. corporation may qualify for the elimination 

of withholding tax if it is wholly-owned, for example, by a U.K., Dutch, Mexican or a 

Swedish publicly-traded company and the other requirements of the derivative benefits 

test are met. At this time, ownership by companies that are residents of other European 

Union, European Economic Area or North American Free Trade Agreement countries 

would not qualify the German company for benefits under this provision, as the United 

States does not have treaties that eliminate the withholding tax on inter-company 

dividends with any other of those countries. If the United States were to enter into such 

16
treaties with more of those countries, residents of those countries could then qualify as 

equivalent beneficiaries for purposes of this provision. 

The derivative benefits test may also provide benefits to U.S. companies receiving 

dividends from German subsidiaries, because of the effect of the Parent-Subsidiary 

Directive in the European Union. Under that directive, inter-company dividends paid 

within the European Union are free of withholding tax. Under subparagraph (f) of 

paragraph 8 of Article 28 that directive will also be taken into account in determining 

whether the owner of a U.S. company receiving dividends from a German company is an 

"equivalent beneficiary." Thus, a company that is a resident of a member state of the 

European Union will, by definition, meet the requirements regarding equivalent benefits 

with respect to any dividends received by its U.S. subsidiary from a German company. 

For example, assume USCo is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICo, an Italian publiclytraded company. USCo owns all of the shares of GCo, a German company. If GCo were 

to pay dividends directly to ICo, those dividends would be exempt from withholding tax 

in the Federal Republic of Germany by reason of the Parent-Subsidiary Directive. If ICo 

meets the other conditions to be an equivalent beneficiary under subparagraph 8(e) of 

Article 28, it will be treated as an equivalent beneficiary by reason of subparagraph 8(f) 

of that article. 

A company also may qualify for the elimination of withholding tax pursuant to 

Article 10(3)(a)(cc) if it is owned by seven or fewer U.S. or German residents who 

qualify as an "equivalent beneficiary" and meet the other requirements of the derivative 

benefits provision. This rule may apply, for example, to certain German corporate joint 

venture vehicles that are closely-held by a few German resident individuals. 

Article 28(e) contains a specific rule of application intended to ensure that for 

purposes of applying Article 10(3) certain joint ventures, not just wholly-owned 

subsidiaries, can qualify for benefits. For example, assume that the United States were to 

enter into a treaty with Country X, a member of the European Union, that includes a 

provision identical to Article 10(3). USCo is 100 percent owned by GCo, a German 

company, which in turn is owned 49 percent by PCo, a German publicly-traded company, 

and 51 percent by XCo, a publicly-traded company that is resident in Country X. In the 

absence of a special rule for interpreting the derivative benefits provision, each of PCo 

and XCo would be treated as owning only their proportionate share of the shares held by 

GCo in USCo. If that rule were applied in this situation, neither PCo nor XCo would be 

an equivalent beneficiary, because neither would meet the 80 percent ownership test with 

respect to USCo. However, since both PCo and XCo are residents of countries that have 

treaties with the United States that provide for elimination of withholding tax on intercompany dividends, it is appropriate to provide benefits to GCo in this case. 

Accordingly, the definition of "equivalent beneficiary" includes a rule of 

application that is intended to ensure that such joint ventures qualify for the benefits of 

Article 10(3). Under that rule, each of the shareholders is treated as owning shares of 

USCo with the same percentage of voting power as the shares held by GCo for purposes 

of determining whether it would be entitled to an equivalent rate of withholding tax. This 

17
rule is necessary because of the high ownership threshold for qualification for the 

elimination of withholding tax on inter-company dividends. 

If a company does not qualify for the elimination of withholding tax under any of 

the foregoing objective tests, it may request a determination from the relevant competent 

authority pursuant to paragraph 7 of Article 28. Benefits will be granted with respect to 

an item of income if the competent authority of the Contracting State in which the 

income arises determines that the establishment, acquisition or maintenance of such 

resident and the conduct of its operations did not have as one of its principal purposes the 

obtaining of benefits under the Convention. 

Subparagraph (b) of paragraph 3 of Article 10 provides that dividends received 

by a pension fund may not be taxed in the Contracting State of which the company 

paying the dividend is a resident, unless such dividends are derived from the carrying on 

of a business, directly or indirectly, by the pension fund. 

The rule is necessary because pension funds normally do not pay tax (either 

through a general exemption or because reserves for future pension liabilities effectively 

offset all of the fund's income), and therefore cannot benefit from a foreign tax credit. 

Moreover, distributions from a pension fund generally do not maintain the character of 

the underlying income, so the beneficiaries of the pension are not in a position to claim 

a foreign tax credit when they finally receive the pension, in many cases years after the 

withholding tax has been paid. Accordingly, in the absence of this rule, the dividends 

would almost certainly be subject to unrelieved double taxation. 

Clause b) of paragraph 8 of Article XVI of the Protocol provides that in the case 

of Germany, subparagraph (b) of paragraph 3 of Article 10 applies to the person treated 

as owning the assets of the pension fund under section 39 of the Fiscal Code, provided 

that the dividends may only be used for providing retirement benefits through such 

fund. This provision makes clear that in the case of Germany, the zero rate of 

withholding tax for dividends paid to pension funds is also available in the case of an 

employer that has not set up a pension fund, but commits to pay a certain level of 

retirement income to its employees as described in sec. 6a of the Income Tax Act and 

for which the employer has established a contractual trust arrangement so long as sec. 

39 of the Fiscal Code provides that for tax purposes the assets are attributable to the 

employer that entered into the contractual trust arrangement. For these purposes, the 

term "pension fund" is defined in paragraph 11 of Article 10. 

Paragraph 4 

Article 10 generally applies to distributions made by a RIC or a REIT. However, 

distributions made by a REIT or certain RICs that are attributable to gains derived from 

the alienation of U.S. real property interests and treated as gain recognized under section 

897(h)(1) are taxable under paragraph 1 of Article 13 instead of Article 10. In the case of 

RIC or REIT distributions to which Article 10 applies, paragraph 4 imposes limitations 

on the rate reductions provided by paragraphs 2 and 3 in the case of dividends paid by a 

RIC or a REIT. 

18
The first sentence of subparagraph 4 provides that dividends paid by a RIC or 

REIT or a German Investment Fund or a German Investmentaktiengesellschaft 

(collectively referred to as Investmentvermögen) are not eligible for the 5 percent rate of 

withholding tax of subparagraph 2(a) or the elimination of source-country withholding 

tax of subparagraph 3(a). 

The second sentence of subparagraph 4(a) provides that the 15 percent maximum 

rate of withholding tax of subparagraph 2(b) applies to dividends paid by RICs and 

Investmentvermögen and that the elimination of source-country withholding tax of 

subparagraph 3(b) applies to dividends paid by such RICs and Investmentvermögen and 

beneficially owned by a pension fund. 

The third sentence of subparagraph 4(a) provides that the 15 percent rate of 

withholding tax also applies to dividends paid by a REIT and that the elimination of 

source-country withholding tax of subparagraph 3(b) applies to dividends paid by REITs 

and beneficially owned by a pension fund, provided that one of the three following 

conditions is met. First, the beneficial owner of the dividend is an individual or a pension 

fund, in either case holding an interest of not more than 10 percent in the REIT. Second, 

the dividend is paid with respect to a class of stock that is publicly traded and the 

beneficial owner of the dividend is a person holding an interest of not more than 5 

percent of any class of the REIT’s shares. Third, the beneficial owner of the dividend 

holds an interest in the REIT of not more than 10 percent and the REIT is "diversified." 

Paragraph 4 provides a definition of the term "diversified", which is necessary 

because the term is not defined in the Code. A REIT is diversified if the gross value of 

no single interest in real property held by the REIT exceeds 10 percent of the gross value 

of the REIT’s total interest in real property. Foreclosure property is not considered an 

interest in real property, and a REIT holding a partnership interest is treated as owning its 

proportionate share of any interest in real property held by the partnership. 

The restrictions set out above are intended to prevent the use of these entities to 

gain inappropriate U.S. tax benefits. For example, a company resident in the Federal 

Republic of Germany that wishes to hold a diversified portfolio of U.S. corporate shares 

could hold the portfolio directly and would bear a U.S. withholding tax of 15 percent on 

all of the dividends that it receives. Alternatively, it could hold the same diversified 

portfolio by purchasing 10 percent or more of the interests in a RIC. If the RIC is a pure 

conduit, there may be no U.S. tax cost to interposing the RIC in the chain of ownership. 

Absent the special rule in paragraph 4, such use of the RIC could transform portfolio 

dividends, taxable in the United States under the Convention at a 15 percent maximum 

rate of withholding tax, into direct investment dividends taxable at a 5 percent maximum 

rate of withholding tax or eligible under paragraph 3(a) for the elimination of sourcecountry withholding tax. 

Similarly, a resident of the Federal Republic of Germany directly holding U.S. 

real property would pay U.S. tax on rental income either at a 30 percent rate of 

withholding tax on the gross income or at graduated rates on the net income. As in the 

19
preceding example, by placing the real property in a REIT, the investor could, absent a 

special rule, transform rental income into dividend income from the REIT, taxable at the 

rates provided in Article 10, significantly reducing the U.S. tax that otherwise would be 

imposed. Paragraph 4 prevents this result and thereby avoids a disparity between the 

taxation of direct real estate investments and real estate investments made through REIT 

conduits. In the cases in which paragraph 4 allows a dividend from a REIT to be eligible 

for the 15 percent rate of withholding tax, the holding in the REIT is not considered the 

equivalent of a direct holding in the underlying real property. 

The same reasoning explains the treatment of U.S. REIT dividends to a pension 

fund. In the cases in which paragraph 4 allows a dividend from a REIT paid to a pension 

fund to be eligible for the zero rate of withholding tax, the holding in the REIT is also not 

considered the equivalent of a direct holding in the underlying real property. Although 

the third sentence of subparagraph 4(a) of Article 10 with respect to the elimination of 

source-country withholding tax of dividends paid by REITs to pension funds is by its 

terms bilateral, the domestic law of the Federal Republic of Germany does not currently 

provide for the exemption from tax of REITs. In addition, paragraph 8 of Article XVI of 

the Protocol provides that in the event the Federal Republic of Germany enacts such 

legislation, subparagraph (b) of paragraph 3 of Article 10 will not apply to dividends paid 

by such a company that is a resident of the Federal Republic of Germany. 

Paragraph 5 

Paragraph 5 defines the term dividends broadly and flexibly. The definition is 

intended to cover all arrangements that yield a return on an equity investment in a 

corporation as determined under the tax law of the state of source, as well as arrangements that might be developed in the future. 

The term includes income from shares, or other corporate rights that are not 

treated as debt under the law of the source State, that participate in the profits of the 

company. The term also includes income that is subjected to the same tax treatment as 

income from shares by the law of the State of source. Thus, a constructive dividend that 

results from a non-arm's length transaction between a corporation and a related party is a 

dividend. In the case of the Federal Republic of Germany dividends also include income 

from sleeping partnerships, a participating loan, a “Gewinnobligation” as well as 

distributions on certificates of a German Investmentvermögen. In the case of the United 

States the term dividend includes amounts treated as a dividend under U.S. law upon the 

sale or redemption of shares or upon a transfer of shares in a reorganization. See, e.g., 

Rev. Rul. 92-85, 1992-2 C.B. 69 (sale of foreign subsidiary's stock to U.S. sister 

company is a deemed dividend to extent of the subsidiary's and sister company's earnings 

and profits). Further, a distribution from a U.S. publicly traded limited partnership, 

which is taxed as a corporation under U.S. law, is a dividend for purposes of Article 10. 

However, a distribution by a limited liability company is not taxable by the United States 

under Article 10, provided the limited liability company is not characterized as an 

association taxable as a corporation under U.S. law. 

20
Finally, a payment denominated as interest that is made by a thinly capitalized 

corporation may be treated as a dividend to the extent that the debt is recharacterized as 

equity under the laws of the source State. 

Paragraph 6 

Paragraph 6 provides that the income from arrangements that carry the right to 

participate in profits that are deductible in the determining the profits of the payor may be 

taxed by the source country according to its domestic law. In the United States, these 

amounts include contingent interest of a type that would not qualify as portfolio interest. 

In the Federal Republic of Germany, these amounts include income under a sleeping 

partnership, a participating loan or a “Gewinnobligation” or “jouissance” shares or rights. 

This rule applies notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2 and 3 of this Article and 

paragraph 1 of Article 11 (Interest). 

Paragraph 7 

Paragraph 7 provides that the general source country limitations under paragraphs 

2 through 4 on dividends do not apply if the beneficial owner of the dividends is a 

permanent establishment situated in the source country and the dividends are attributable 

to such permanent establishment. In such case, the rules of Article 7 (Business Profits) 

shall apply. Accordingly, such dividends will be taxed on a net basis using the rates and 

rules of taxation generally applicable to residents of the Contracting State in which the 

permanent establishment is located, as modified by the Convention. An example of 

dividends attributable to a permanent establishment would be dividends derived by a 

dealer in stock or securities from stock or securities that the dealer held for sale to 

customers. 

Paragraph 8 

The right of a Contracting State to tax dividends paid by a company that is a 

resident of the other Contracting State is restricted by paragraph 8 to cases in which the 

dividends are paid to a resident of that Contracting State or are attributable to a 

permanent establishment in that Contracting State. Thus, a Contracting State may not 

impose a "secondary" withholding tax on dividends paid by a nonresident company out 

of earnings and profits from that Contracting State. In the case of the United States, the 

secondary withholding tax was eliminated for payments made after December 31, 2004 

in the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. 

The paragraph also restricts the right of a Contracting State to impose corporate 

level taxes on undistributed profits of a company that is a resident of the other 

Contracting State, other than a branch profits tax. The paragraph does not restrict a 

State’s right to tax its resident shareholders on undistributed earnings of a corporation 

resident in the other State. Thus, the authority of the United States to impose taxes on 

subpart F income and on earnings deemed invested in U.S. property, and its tax on 

21
income of a passive foreign investment company that is a qualified electing fund is in no 

way restricted by this provision. 

Paragraphs 9 and 10 

Paragraph 9 permits a Contracting State to impose a branch profits tax on a 

company resident in the other Contracting State. The tax is in addition to other taxes 

permitted by the Convention. The term "company" is defined in subparagraph 1(e) of 

Article 3 (General Definitions) of the Convention. 

A Contracting State may impose a branch profits tax on a company if the 

company has income attributable to a permanent establishment in that Contracting State, 

derives income from real property in that Contracting State that is taxed on a net basis 

under Article 6 (Income from Immovable (Real) Property), or realizes gains taxable in 

that State under paragraph 1 of Article 13 (Gains). In the case of the United States, the 

imposition of such tax is limited, however, to the portion of the aforementioned items of 

income that represents the amount of such income that is the "dividend equivalent 

amount." This is consistent with the relevant rules under the U.S. branch profits tax, and 

the term dividend equivalent amount is defined under U.S. law. Section 884 of the Code 

defines the dividend equivalent amount as an amount for a particular year that is 

equivalent to the income described above that is included in the corporation's effectively 

connected earnings and profits for that year, after payment of the corporate tax under 

Articles 6 (Income from Immovable (Real) Property), 7 (Business Profits) or 13 (Gains), 

reduced for any increase in the branch's U.S. net equity during the year or increased for 

any reduction in its U.S. net equity during the year. U.S. net equity is U.S. assets less 

U.S. liabilities. See Treas. Reg. section 1.884-1. Paragraph 9 of Article XVI of the 

Protocol clarifies that the general principle of the “dividend equivalent amount” under 

U.S. law is to approximate that portion of the income described in paragraph 9 of Article 

10 (Dividends) that is comparable to the amount that would be distributed as a dividend if 

such income were earned by a locally incorporated subsidiary. Thus, the dividend 

equivalent amount for any year approximates the dividend that a U.S. branch office 

would have paid during the year if the branch had been operated as a separate U.S. 

subsidiary company. 

The Federal Republic of Germany currently does not impose a branch profits tax. 

If the Federal Republic of Germany were to impose such a tax, the base is limited to the 

portion of the income described in subparagraph 9(a) that is comparable to the amount 

that would be distributed as a dividend by a locally incorporated subsidiary. 

As discussed in the Technical Explanations to Articles 1(2) and Paragraph 4 of 

Article XVI of the Protocol, consistency principles require that a taxpayer may not mix 

and match the rules of the Code and the Convention in an inconsistent manner. In the 

context of the branch profits tax, the consistency requirement means that an enterprise 

that uses the principles of Article 7 to determine its net taxable income also must use 

those principles in determining the dividend equivalent amount. Similarly, an enterprise 

that uses U.S. domestic law to determine its net taxable income must also use U.S. 

22
domestic law in complying with the branch profits tax. As in the case of Article 7, if an 

enterprise switches between domestic law and treaty principles from year to year, it will 

need to make appropriate adjustments or recapture amounts that otherwise might go 

untaxed. 

Paragraph 10 limits the rate of the branch profits tax allowed under paragraph 9 to 

5 percent. Paragraph 10 also provides that the branch profits tax shall not be imposed, 

however, if certain requirements are met. In general, these requirements provide rules for 

a branch that parallel the rules for when a dividend paid by a subsidiary will be subject to 

exclusive residence-country taxation (i.e., the elimination of source-country withholding 

tax). Accordingly, the branch profits tax may not be imposed in the case of a company 

that: (1) meets the "publicly traded" test of subparagraph 2(c) of Article 28 (Limitation on 

Benefits), (2) meets the "ownership-base erosion" and "active trade or business" tests 

described in subparagraph 2(f) and paragraph 4 of Article 28 (Limitation on Benefits), (3) 

meets the "derivative benefits" test of paragraph 3 of Article 28 (Limitation on Benefits), 

or (4) is granted benefits with respect to the elimination of the branch profits tax by the 

competent authority pursuant to paragraph 7 of Article 28 (Limitation on Benefits). 

Thus, for example, if a German company would be subject to the branch profits 

tax with respect to profits attributable to a U.S. branch and not reinvested in that branch, 

paragraph 10 may apply to eliminate the branch profits tax if the company either met the 

publicly traded test, met both the ownership-base erosion and active trade or business 

tests, or met the derivative benefits test. If a German company did not meet any of those 

tests, but otherwise qualified for benefits under Article 28, then the branch profits tax 

would apply at a rate of 5 percent, unless the German company is granted benefits with 

respect to the elimination of the branch profits tax by the competent authority pursuant to 

paragraph 7 of Article 28. 

Paragraph 11 

Paragraph 11 defines a pension fund to mean a person that is organized under the 

laws of a Contracting State and that is established and maintained in that State primarily 

to administer or provide pensions or other similar remuneration (including social security 

payments, disability pensions and widow’s pensions) or to earn income for the benefit of 

one or more such persons, and in the case of the United States, is exempt from tax in the 

United States with respect to such activities, or in the case of the Federal Republic of 

Germany, is a plan the contributions to which are eligible for preferential treatment under 

the Income Tax Act. 

Relation to Other Articles 

Notwithstanding the foregoing limitations on source country taxation of 

dividends, the saving clause of paragraph 4 of Article 1 (General Scope) permits the 

United States to tax dividends received by its residents and citizens, subject to the special 

foreign tax credit rules of paragraph 5 of Article 23 (Relief from Double Taxation), as if 

the Convention had not come into effect. 

23
The benefits of this Article are also subject to the provisions of Article 28 

(Limitation on Benefits). Thus, if a resident of the Federal Republic of Germany is the 

beneficial owner of dividends paid by a U.S. corporation, the shareholder must qualify 

for treaty benefits under at least one of the tests of Article 28 in order to receive the 

benefits of this Article. 

Article V 

Paragraph a) of Article V of the Protocol provides for a new paragraph 6 of 

Article 11 (Interest) of the Convention. Paragraph 6 provides an anti-abuse exception to 

paragraph 1 of Article 11 (Interest) for excess inclusions from U.S. real estate mortgage 

investment conduits (“REMICs”) that follows subparagraph (b) of paragraph 5 of the 

1996 U.S. Model. Paragraph 6 serves as a backstop to Code section 860G(b). That 

section generally requires that a foreign person holding a residual interest in a REMIC 

take into account for U.S. tax purposes "any excess inclusion" and "amounts includible . . 

. [under the REMIC provisions] when paid or distributed (or when the interest is disposed 

of) . . . ." 

Without a full tax at source, non-U.S. transferees of residual interests would have 

a competitive advantage over U.S. transferees at the time these interests are initially 

offered. Absent this rule, the United States would suffer a revenue loss with respect to 

mortgages held in a REMIC because of opportunities for tax avoidance created by 

differences in the timing of taxable and economic income produced by such interests. In 

many cases, the transfer to the foreign person is simply disregarded under Reg. § 1.860G3. Paragraph 6 also serves to indicate that excess inclusions from REMICs are not 

considered “other income” subject to Article 21 (Other Income) of the Convention. 

Paragraph b) of Article V of the Protocol provides for an amended cross-reference 

in paragraph 5 of Article 11 (Interest) of the Convention. 

Article VI 

Article VI of the Protocol replaces the existing paragraph 6 of Article 13 (Gains) 

of the Convention. Paragraph 6 of Article 13 (Gains) provides special basis adjustment 

rules where an individual, who upon ceasing to be a resident of a Contracting State, is 

treated under the taxation laws of that State as having alienated property and is taxed in 

that State by reason thereof. Such an individual may elect to be treated for purposes of 

taxation in the other Contracting State as if the individual had, immediately before 

ceasing to be a resident of the first-mentioned Contracting State to have alienated and 

reacquired the property for amount equal to its fair market value. As a consequence of 

the election,, the other Contracting State, for purposes of imposing tax on any subsequent 

sale of the property, will be limited to the gain (if any) accrued once the individual ceased 

to be a resident of the first-mentioned Contracting State. 

24
Notwithstanding the forgoing provisions, subparagraph (a) of paragraph 4 of the 

Article 1(General Scope) permits the United States to tax its citizens and residents as if 

the Convention had not come into effect. The rules of paragraph 6 of this Article, 

however, continue to apply to U.S. citizens and residents by virtue of the exceptions to 

the saving clause in subparagraph (a) of paragraph 5. 

Article VII 

Article VII of the Protocol deletes the existing Article 14 (Independent Personal 

Services) of the Convention. Accordingly, paragraph b) of Article III of the Protocol 

amends Article 7 (Business Profits) to provide that income from the performance of 

professional services and other activities of an independent character is included in the 

term business profits. This is consistent with recent U.S. tax treaty practice. 

Article VIII 

Article VIII of the Protocol changes the name Article 18 (Pensions, Annuities, 

Alimony, and Child Support) of the Convention to Article 18 (Pensions, Annuities, 

Alimony, Child Support, and Social Security). 

In addition, Article VIII of the Protocol adds a new paragraph 5 to Article 18, the 

substance of which was previously contained in Article 19 (Government Service; Social 

Security). Paragraph 5 provides for exclusive residence-country taxation of social 

security benefits and similar public pensions. Paragraph 5 provides that payments made 

by one of the Contracting States under the provisions of its social security law and other 

public pensions (not dealt with in new Article 19 (Government Service)) to a resident of 

the other Contracting State will be taxable only in the other Contracting State. The 

phrase “other public pensions” is intended to refer to United States Tier 1 Railroad 

Retirement benefits. Paragraph 5 applies to social security beneficiaries, whether they 

have contributed to the system as private-sector or government employees. The 

treatment of social security benefits in the Convention differs from that in the U.S. Model 

which provides for exclusive source country taxation of social security benefits. 

In applying its tax, the residence country will treat the benefit as though it were a 

benefit paid to a resident under its own social security system. Thus, for example, if a 

U.S. resident receives a German social security benefit, he would include only one half of 

the benefit or such other portion as he would if the benefit had been a U.S. social security 

or railroad retirement benefit. 

With respect the Article 18, the Joint Declaration acknowledges that the Federal 

Republic of Germany has recently amended its domestic law regarding the taxation of 

retirement income and contributions to pension plans. However, these new rules are 

subject to a long phase-in period. Consequently, the Contracting States have agreed to 

enter into consultations no sooner than January 1, 2013 with a view to further amending 

this Article in light of this legislation. 

25
Article IX 

Article IX of the Protocol adds a new Article 18A (Pension Plans) to the 

Convention. Article 18A deals with cross-border pension contributions. It is intended to 

remove barriers to the flow of personal services between the Contracting States that could 

otherwise result from discontinuities in the laws of the Contracting States regarding the 

deductibility of pension contributions and the taxation of a pension plan’s earnings and 

accretions. Such discontinuities may arise where countries allow deductions or 

exclusions to their residents for contributions, made by them or on their behalf, to 

resident pension plans, but do not allow deductions or exclusions for payments made to 

plans resident in another country, even if the structure and legal requirements of such 

plans in the two countries are similar. Similar discontinuities may arise where countries 

allow their residents to defer taxation on a pension plan’s earnings and accretions, but do 

not allow such deferral for plans resident in another country. 

The 2006 U.S. Model includes a comparable set of rules in Article 18 (Pension 

Funds). 

Paragraph 1 

Paragraph 1 provides that if a resident of a Contracting State participates in a 

pension plan established in the other Contracting State, the State of residence will not tax 

the income of the pension plan with respect to that resident until a distribution is made 

from the pension plan. Thus, for example, if a U.S. citizen contributes to a U.S. qualified 

plan while working in the United States and then establishes residence in the Federal 

Republic of Germany, paragraph 1 prevents the Federal Republic of Germany from 

taxing currently the plan’s earnings and accretions with respect to that individual. When 

the resident receives a distribution from the pension plan, that distribution may be subject 

to tax in the State of residence, subject to paragraph 1 of Article 18 (Pensions, Annuities, 

Alimony, Child Support, and Social Security). 

Paragraph 2 

Paragraph 2 provides certain benefits with respect to cross-border contributions to 

a pension plan, subject to the limitations of paragraph 3 and 5 of the Article. It is 

irrelevant for purposes of paragraph 2 whether the participant establishes residence in the 

State where the individual renders services (the “host State”). The benefits provided in 

paragraph 2 are similar to the benefits the U.S. Model provides with respect to 

contributions. 

Subparagraph (a) of paragraph 2 allows an individual who exercises employment 

or self-employment in a Contracting State to deduct or exclude from income in that 

Contracting State contributions made by or on behalf of the individual during the period 

of employment or self-employment to a pension plan established in the other Contracting 

State. Thus, for example, if a participant in a U.S. qualified plan goes to work in the 

Federal Republic of Germany, the participant may deduct or exclude from income in the 

26
Federal Republic of Germany contributions to the U.S. qualified plan made while the 

participant works in the Federal Republic of Germany. Subparagraph (a), however, 

applies only to the extent of the relief allowed by the host State (i.e., the Federal Republic 

of Germany in the example) to a resident of that State for contributions to a pension plan 

established in that State. 

Subparagraph (b) of paragraph 2 provides that, in the case of employment, 

accrued benefits and contributions by or on behalf of the individual’s employer, during 

the period of employment in the host State, will not be treated as taxable income to the 

employee in that State. Subparagraph (b) also allows the employer a deduction in 

computing business profits in the host State for contributions to the plan. For example, if 

a participant in a U.S. qualified plan goes to work in the Federal Republic of Germany, 

the participant’s employer may deduct from its business profits in the Federal Republic of 

Germany contributions to the U.S. qualified plan for the benefit of the employee while 

the employee renders services in the Federal Republic of Germany. 

As in the case of subparagraph (a), subparagraph (b) applies only to the extent of 

relief allowed by the host State to a resident of that State for contributions to, or benefits 

accrued under, a pension plan established in that State. Therefore, where the United 

States is the host State, the exclusion of employee contributions from the employee’s 

income under this paragraph is limited to elective contributions not in excess of the 

amount specified in section 402(g). Deduction of employer contributions is subject to the 

limitations of sections 415 and 404. The section 404 limitation on deductions is 

calculated as if the individual were the only employee covered by the plan. 

The competent authorities shall determine the relief available under 

subparagraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 2. 

Paragraph 3 

Paragraph 3 limits the availability of benefits under paragraph 2. Under 

subparagraph (a) of paragraph 3, paragraph 2 does not apply to contributions to a pension 

plan unless the participant already was contributing to the plan, or his employer already 

was contributing to the plan with respect to that individual, before the individual began 

exercising employment in the host State. This condition would be met if either the 

employee or the employer was contributing to a plan that was replaced by the plan to 

which he is contributing. The rule regarding successor plans would apply if, for example, 

the employer has been taken over by a company that replaces the existing plan with its 

own plan, rolling membership in the old plan over into the new plan. 

In addition, under subparagraph (b) of paragraph 3, the competent authority of the 

host State must determine that the recognized plan to which a contribution is made in the 

other Contracting State generally corresponds to the plan in the host State. Pursuant to 

clause (b)(aa) of paragraph 16 of Article XVI, the U.S. pension plans eligible for the 

benefits of paragraph 2 include the following plans (and any identical or substantially 

similar plans established pursuant to legislation enacted after the date of signature of this 

27
Protocol): qualified plans under section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, individual 

retirement plans (including individual retirement plans that are part of a simplified 

employee pension plan that satisfies section 408(k), individual retirement accounts, 

individual retirement annuities, and section 408(p) accounts), section 403(a) qualified 

annuity plans, section 403(b) plans, and section 457(b) governmental plans. Clause 

(b)(bb) of paragraph 16 of Article XVI provides that it is understood for this purpose that 

German plans include arrangements under section 1 of the German law on employmentrelated pensions (Betriebsrentengesetz). 

Paragraph 4 

Paragraph 4 defines the term “pension plan” for purposes of Article 18A to mean 

an arrangement established in a Contracting State which is operated principally to 

administer or provide pension or retirement benefits or to earn income for the benefit of 

one or more such arrangements. Clause (a)(aa) of paragraph 16 of Article XVI of the 

Protocol provides that the term "pension plan" shall include the following U.S. plans and 

any identical or substantially similar plans established pursuant to legislation enacted 

after the date of signature of this Protocol: qualified plans under section 401(a) of the 

Code, individual retirement plans (including individual retirement plans that are part of a 

simplified employee pension plan that satisfies section 408(k), individual retirement 

accounts, individual retirement annuities, and section 408(p) accounts, and Roth IRAs 

under Section 408A), section 403(a) qualified annuity plans, section 403(b) plans, and 

section 457(b) governmental plans. In the case of the Federal Republic of Germany, 

clause (a)(bb) of paragraph 16 of Article XVI of the Protocol provides that the term 

"pension plan" shall include arrangements under section 1 of the German law on 

employment related pensions (Betriebsrentengesetz) and any identical or substantially 

similar plans established pursuant to legislation enacted after the date of signature of this 

Protocol. 

Paragraph 5 

Paragraph 5 generally provides U.S. tax treatment for certain contributions by or 

on behalf of U.S. citizens resident in the Federal Republic of Germany to pension plans 

established in the Federal Republic of Germany that is comparable to the treatment that 

would be provided for contributions to U.S. plans. Under clause (aa) of subparagraph (a) 

of paragraph 5, a U.S. citizen resident in the Federal Republic of Germany may exclude 

or deduct for U.S. tax purposes certain contributions to a pension plan established in the 

Federal Republic of Germany. Qualifying contributions generally include contributions 

made during the period the U.S. citizen exercises an employment in the Federal Republic 

of Germany the income from which is taxable in the Federal Republic if expenses of the 

employment are borne by a German employer or German permanent establishment. 

Similarly, with respect to the U.S. citizen’s participation in the German pension plan, 

accrued benefits and contributions during that period generally are not treated as taxable 

income in the United States under clause (bb) of subparagraph (a) of paragraph 5. 

28
The U.S. tax benefit allowed by paragraph 5, however, is limited to the lesser of 

the amount of relief allowed for contributions and benefits under a pension plan 

established in the Federal Republic of Germany and, under subparagraph (b), the amount 

of relief that would be allowed for contributions and benefits under a generally 

corresponding pension plan established in the United States. 

Subparagraph (c) provides that the benefits an individual obtains under paragraph 

5 are counted when determining that individual’s eligibility for benefits under a pension 

plan established in the United States. Thus, for example, contributions to a German 

pension plan may be counted in determining whether the individual has exceeded the 

annual limitation on contributions to an individual retirement account. 

Under subparagraph (d), paragraph 5 does not apply to pension contributions and 

benefits unless the competent authority of the United States has agreed that the pension 

plan established in the Federal Republic of Germany generally corresponds to a pension 

plan established in the United States. Paragraph 16 of Article XIV provides that certain 

pension plans have been determined to "generally correspond" to plans in the other 

country. Since paragraph 5 applies only with respect to persons employed by a German 

employer or German permanent establishment, however, the relevant German plans are 

those that correspond to employer plans in the United States. Accordingly, it applies with 

respect to retirement benefit plans under section 1 of the German law on employment 

related pensions (Betriebsrentengesetz). 

Relation to other Articles 

Paragraphs 1 and 5 are not subject to the saving clause of paragraph 4 of Article 1 

(General Scope) by reason of the exception in subparagraph 5(a) of Article 1. Thus, the 

United States will allow U.S. citizens and residents the benefits of paragraphs 1 and 5. 

Paragraph 2 is not subject to the saving clause by reason of subparagraph 5(b) of Article 

1. Accordingly, a person who becomes a U.S. permanent resident or citizen will no 

longer receive a deduction for contributions to a pension fund established in the other 

Contracting State. 

Article X 

Article X of the Protocol replaces Article 19 (Government Services) of the 

Convention. The amendments made by this Article X of the Protocol will not have effect 

with respect to individuals who, at the time of the signing of the Convention, August 29, 

1989, were employed by the United States, a political subdivision or local authority 

thereof. 

Paragraph 1 

Subparagraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 deal with the taxation of government 

compensation (other than a pension addressed in paragraph 2). Subparagraph (a) 

provides that salaries, wages and other similar remuneration paid to any individual who is 

29
rendering services to that State, political subdivision, local authority, or instrumentality is 

exempt from tax by the other State (i.e., the host State). Under subparagraph (b), such 

payments are, however, taxable exclusively in the host State if the services are rendered 

in the host State and the individual is a resident of that State who is either a national of 

that State or a person who did not become resident of that State solely for purposes of 

rendering the services. 

This paragraph follows the OECD Model, but differs from the U.S. Model in 

applying only to government employees and not to independent contractors engaged by 

governments to perform services for them. 

Paragraph 2 

Paragraph 2 deals with the taxation of pensions and other similar remuneration 

paid by, or out of funds created by, one of the States, or a political subdivision, local 

authority, or instrumentality thereof, to an individual in respect of services rendered to 

that State, subdivision, authority or instrumentality. Subparagraph (a) provides that such 

pensions and other remuneration are taxable only in that State. Subparagraph (b) 

provides an exception under which such pensions are taxable only in the other State if the 

individual is a resident of, and a national of, that other State or the pension is not subject 

to tax in the Contracting State for which the services were performed because the services 

were performed entirely in the other Contracting State. 

Pensions paid to retired civilian and military employees of a Government of either 

State are intended to be covered under paragraph 2. When benefits paid by a State in 

respect of services rendered to that State (or a subdivision, authority, or instrumentality) 

are in the form of social security benefits, however, those payments are covered by 

paragraph 5 of Article 18 (Pensions, Annuities, Alimony, Child Support, and Social 

Security). The result will differ depending upon whether Article 18 or 19 applies, since 

social security benefits are generally taxable exclusively by the residence country while 

government pensions are generally taxable exclusively by the source country. 

Paragraph 3 

Paragraph 3 contains a provision proposed by the Federal Republic of Germany. 

It is based on a provision in the 1954 Convention. The subparagraph provides that 

pension, annuities, and other amounts paid by a Contracting State or by a juridical person 

organized under the public laws of that State that are compensation for injury or damage 

sustained as a result of hostilities or political persecution are exempt from tax in the other 

Contracting State. Although the subparagraph is drafted reciprocally, it is intended to 

provide an exemption from U.S. tax for German war reparation payments. 

Paragraph 4 

Paragraph 4 specifies that paragraphs 1 and 2 do not apply to salaries, wages, or 

similar remuneration, and to pensions, paid for services performed in connection with a 

30
business carried on by a Contracting State, or a political subdivision, local authority or 

instrumentality thereof. In such cases, the remuneration and pensions are subject instead 

to the provisions of Articles 15 (Dependant Personal Services), 16 (Directors’ Fees), or 

17 (Artistes and Athletes) and 18 (Pensions, Annuities, Alimony, Child Support, and 

Social Security). This provision conforms to the OECD Model. 

Paragraph 5 

For purposes of this Article, the term “instrumentality” means an agent or entity 

created or organized by a Contracting State, one of its states or a political subdivision or 

local authority thereof in order to carry out functions of a government nature which is 

specified and agreed to in letters exchanged between the competent authorities of the 

Contracting States. 

Relation to other Articles 

Under subparagraph (b) of paragraph 5 of Article 1 (General Scope), the saving 

clause (paragraph 4 of Article 1) does not apply to the benefits conferred if the recipient 

of the benefits is neither a citizen of United States, nor a person who has been admitted 

for permanent residence there (i.e., a “green card” holder). Thus, for example, a resident 

of the Federal Republic of Germany who, in the course of rendering services to the 

government of the Federal Republic of Germany, becomes a resident of the United States 

(but not a permanent resident) would be entitled to the exemption from taxation by the 

United States provided by paragraph 1. However, Article 19 is subject to the saving 

clause with respect to benefits conferred by the United States to citizens and permanent 

residents of the United States. 

Paragraph 3 of this Article is an exception to the saving clause (paragraph 4 of 

Article 1) pursuant to subparagraph (a) of paragraph 5 of Article 1(General Scope). 

Thus, a U.S. citizen or resident who receives German reparations payments would not be 

subject to any U.S. tax on that payment, regardless of whether he would be taxable under 

the Code. 

Article XI 

Paragraph (a) of Article XI of the Protocol replaces paragraph 1 of Article 20 

(Visiting Professors and Teachers; Students and Trainees). Paragraph 1 provides that a 

professor or teacher who is resident in one Contracting State and who is temporarily 

present in the other Contracting State for the primary purpose of carrying out advanced 

study or research, or for teaching at a recognized educational institution, or an institution 

engaged in research for the public benefit in that other State will be exempted from tax by 

that other State on any remuneration for such teaching or research for a period not 

exceeding two years from the date he first visits that other State for the purpose of 

advanced study, teaching, or research. Since this two year period is determined from the 

date he first visits the other State, periodic vacations outside the other State, or a brief 

return to the first-mentioned State will not toll the running of the two-year period. Unlike 

31
the existing Convention, if the two-year period beginning from the date of his arrival is 

exceeded, the exemption will apply, but only for the first two years and only if the visit is 

temporary. Thus, if a person comes to a Contracting State for the purpose of teaching 

and stays for a temporary period in excess of two years, the person will not retroactively 

lose the exemption with respect to the first two years. The professor or teacher will not be 

granted the benefits of this provision if, during the period immediately preceding his 

visit, he enjoyed the benefits of paragraph 2, 3, or 4 of this Article or he was not a 

resident of the first-mentioned State. 

A person who meets the qualifications for this exemption may again claim its 

benefits if he first re-establishes his residence in the other Contracting State. In such 

case, the person claiming these benefits on a subsequent occasion must first satisfy the 

competent authority of the first-mentioned Contracting State that he had become a 

resident of the other State for a substantial period of time (normally at least one year). 

Article XII 

Article XII of the Protocol replaces Article 23 (Relief from Double Taxation) of 

the Convention. Article 23 of the Convention addresses the manner in which each 

Contracting State undertakes to relieve double taxation. The United States uses the 

foreign tax credit method under its internal law and by treaty. The Federal Republic of 

Germany uses a combination of the foreign tax credit and exemption methods, depending 

on the nature of the income involved. 

Paragraph 1 

The United States agrees, in subparagraph (a) of paragraph 1, to allow to its 

citizens and residents a credit against U.S. tax for income taxes paid or accrued to the 

Federal Republic of Germany. For this purpose, the taxes covered by subparagraph (b) of 

paragraph 1 and by paragraph 2 of Article 2 (Taxes Covered), other than the capital tax 

(Vermoegensteuer) are income taxes. Thus, the German income tax 

(Einkommensteurer), the corporate income tax (Koerperschaftsteuer), the trade tax 

(Gewerbesteuer), as well as any identical or substantially similar German taxes that are 

imposed after the date of signature of the Convention in addition to, or in place of, these 

existing taxes, are considered to be income taxes for purposes of paragraph 1. The 

granting of a foreign tax credit with respect to German taxes is based on the Treasury 

Department's review of the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany. 

Subparagraph (b) provides for a deemed-paid credit, consistent with section 902 

of the Code to a U.S. corporation in respect of dividends received from a corporation 

resident in the Federal Republic of Germany of which the U.S. corporation owns at least 

10 percent of the voting stock. This credit is for the tax paid by the German corporation 

on the profits out of which the dividends are considered paid. 

The credits allowed under paragraph 1 are allowed in accordance with the 

provisions and subject to the limitations of U.S. law, as that law may be amended over 

32
time, so long as the general principle of the Article, that is, the allowance of a credit, is 

retained. Thus, although the Convention provides for a foreign tax credit, the terms of 

the credit are determined by the provisions, at the time a credit is given, of the U.S. 

statutory credit. 

Therefore, the U.S. credit under the Convention is subject to the various 

limitations of U.S. law (see Code sections 901-908). For example, the credit against U.S. 

tax generally is limited to the amount of U.S. tax due with respect to net foreign source 

income within the relevant foreign tax credit limitation category (see Code section 904(a) 

and (d)), and the dollar amount of the credit is determined in accordance with U.S. 

currency translation rules (see, e.g., Code section 986). Similarly, U.S. law applies to 

determine carryover periods for excess credits and other inter-year adjustments. 

Paragraph 2 

Paragraph 2 provides a re-sourcing rule for gross income covered by paragraph 1. 

Paragraph 2 is intended to ensure that a U.S. resident can obtain a U.S. foreign tax credit 

for German taxes paid when the Convention assigns to the Federal Republic of Germany 

primary taxing rights over an item of gross income. 

Paragraph 2 provides that, if the Convention allows the Federal Republic of 

Germany to tax an item of gross income (as defined under U.S. law) derived by a resident 

of the United States, the United States will treat that item of gross income as gross 

income from sources within the Federal Republic of Germany for U.S. foreign tax credit 

purposes. In the case of a U.S.-owned foreign corporation, however, section 904(h)(10) 

may apply for purposes of determining the U.S. foreign tax credit with respect to income 

subject to this re-sourcing rule. Section 904(h)(10) generally applies the foreign tax 

credit limitation separately to re-sourced income. Furthermore, the paragraph 2 resourcing rule applies to gross income, not net income. Accordingly, U.S. expense 

allocation and apportionment rules, see, e.g., Treas. Reg. section 1.861-9, continue to 

apply to income resourced under paragraph 2. 

Paragraph 3 

Paragraph 3 provides that the Federal Republic of Germany will relieve double 

taxation on German residents through a dual method of exemption and credit. 

Subparagraph (a) of paragraph 3 generally provides an exemption from the German tax 

base for income or capital that may be taxed in the United States under the Convention or 

that is exempt from U.S. tax under Article 10(3) (except in cases where a foreign tax 

credit is provided for under subparagraph (b) of paragraph 3). However, the Federal 

Republic of Germany may take the excluded income and assets into account in 

determining the rate of tax on other items of income and capital (i.e., the Federal 

Republic of Germany may provide for exemption with progression). 

Subparagraph (a) of paragraph 3 also provides that in the case of German resident 

companies (not including partnerships) that own at least 10 percent of the voting shares 

33
of U.S. resident companies, the Federal Republic of Germany will only exempt 

distributions of profits on corporate rights subject to corporate income tax under U.S. 

law. In addition, the exemption shall not apply to dividends from a RIC or REIT and 

distributions that are deductible for U.S. income tax purposes by the distributing 

company. With respect to German capital taxes, the Federal Republic of Germany will 

exclude any shareholding the dividends on which would be exempt from German income 

tax under subparagraph (a) of paragraph 3. 

The principal types of income for which exemption is allowed under 

subparagraph (a) of paragraph 3 are generally: (i) income derived by a German enterprise 

which is attributable to a permanent establishment in the United States, (ii) many kinds of 

capital gains, (iii) most classes of personal services income, and (iv) dividends from 

direct investments in the United States. 

Subparagraph (b) of paragraph 2 indicates those items of income, which have 

been taxed in the United States in accordance with the provisions of U.S. law and the 

Convention, for which the Federal Republic of Germany will provide a foreign tax credit 

rather than exemption. These are: (i) income from dividends (as defined in Article 10 

(Dividends)) for which the Federal Republic of Germany will not grant exemption under 

subparagraph (a) of paragraph 3 of this Article (e.g., portfolio dividends, RIC dividends 

and similar deductible or pass-through entity dividends); (ii) gains from the alienation of 

immovable property to which Article 13 (Gains) apply provided such gains are taxable in 

the United States by reason only of paragraph 2 of Article 13 (Gains); (iii) income to 

which Article 16 (Directors’ Fees) applies received by German residents in respect of 

their services rendered in the United States as directors of U.S. corporations, (iv) income 

to which Article 17 (Artistes and Athletes) applies, (v) income which would be exempt 

from U.S. tax under the Convention (e.g., interest), but which is denied the benefits of the 

Convention and is subject to tax by virtue of Article 28 (Limitation on Benefits). With 

respect to (v) above, such income would be fully taxable in the Federal Republic of 

Germany with no credit for U.S. tax absent a special provision; the provision provides for 

a German foreign tax credit in cases where the United States taxes solely by virtue of the 

Limitation on Benefits provisions. 

As with the U.S. credit under paragraph 1, the foreign tax credit granted by the 

Federal Republic of Germany under the Convention is subject to the provisions of 

German law regarding a credit for foreign taxes. Income that may be taxed in the United 

States in accordance with the Convention is deemed, for purposes of the German foreign 

tax credit and exemption provided in paragraph 3, to be from U.S. sources. 

Paragraph 4 

The Federal Republic of Germany will provide a foreign tax credit pursuant to 

subparagraph (b) of paragraph 3 (as opposed to exemption under subparagraph (a) of 

paragraph 3) in three additional instances. The change from the exemption method to 

credit method provided by this paragraph is designed to prevent unintended instances 

either of double taxation or of double non-taxation or inappropriately low taxation. 

34
First, the Federal Republic of Germany provides a foreign tax credit if income or 

capital would be subject to double taxation as a result of the placement of such income 

under different provisions of the Convention and this conflict cannot be resolved pursuant 

to Article 25 (Mutual Agreement Procedure). 

Second, the Federal Republic of Germany will provide a foreign tax credit on 

income or capital if the United States applies the provisions of the Convention to exempt 

such income or capital from tax, or applies paragraph 2 or 3 of Article 10 (Dividends) to 

such income or capital or may under the provisions of the Convention tax such income or 

capital but is prevented from doing so under its domestic law. 

Third, the Federal Republic of Germany may switch from an exemption to a 

foreign tax credit for items of income or capital to the extent consistent with internal 

German law and, after due consultation with the United States and notification of the 

United States through diplomatic channels (switchover clause). In such a case, the 

provisions of subparagraph b) of paragraph 3 shall apply for all taxable years following 

the year of such notification. Any changes in treatment or characterization that may be 

made pursuant to subparagraph c) of paragraph 4 can be effective only from the 

beginning of the calendar year following the year in which the formal notification of the 

change was transmitted to the United States and only when any legal prerequisites for the 

change in the domestic law of the Federal Republic of Germany have been fulfilled. 

The so-called “switchover clause” is intended to deal with cases of double 

exemption of income (e.g., through the granting of a dividends paid deduction to the U.S. 

payor of a dividend and a correlative exemption of such dividend in Germany) or 

arrangements for improper use of the Convention. It was not intended to apply to cases 

where the profits out of which a distribution is made have been subject to the general 

U.S. corporate- level taxing regime. Thus, for example, the fact that a U.S. corporation 

pays a reduced level of U.S. corporate-level tax because of the nature or source of its 

income (e.g., because it is entitled to a dividends received deduction, a net operating loss 

carry forward, or a foreign tax credit) will not entitle Germany to switch from exemption 

to credit. 

Paragraph 5 

Paragraph 5 provides special rules for the tax treatment in both Contracting States 

of certain types of income derived from U.S. sources by U.S. citizens who are resident in 

the Federal Republic of Germany. Since U.S. citizens, regardless of residence, are 

subject to United States tax at ordinary progressive rates on their worldwide income, the 

U.S. tax on the U.S. source income of a U.S. citizen resident in the Federal Republic of 

Germany may exceed the U.S. tax that may be imposed under the Convention on an item 

of U.S. source income derived by a resident of the Federal Republic of Germany who is 

not a U.S. citizen. The provisions of paragraph 5 ensure that the Federal Republic of 

Germany does not bear the cost of U.S. taxation of its citizens who are German residents. 

35
Subparagraph (a) provides, with respect to items of income from sources within 

the United States, special German credit rules. These rules apply to items of U.S.-source 

income that would be either exempt from U.S. tax or subject to reduced rates of U.S. tax 

under the provisions of the Convention if they had been received by a German resident 

who is not a U.S. citizen. The tax credit allowed under paragraph 5 with respect to such 

items need not exceed the U.S. tax that may be imposed under the Convention, other than 

tax imposed solely by reason of the U.S. citizenship of the taxpayer under the provisions 

of the saving clause of paragraph 4 of Article 1 (General Scope). 

For example, if a U.S. citizen resident in Germany receives portfolio dividends 

from sources within the United States, the German foreign tax credit would be limited to 

15 percent of the dividend - - the U.S. tax that may be imposed under subparagraph 2(b) 

of Article 10 (Dividends) - - even if the shareholder is subject (before the special U.S. 

foreign tax credit and source rules provided for in subparagraphs 5(b) and 5(c)) to U.S. 

net income tax because of his U.S. citizenship as a result of the saving clause. With 

respect to royalty or interest income, Germany would allow no foreign tax credit, because 

German residents are exempt from U.S. tax on these classes of income under the 

provisions of Articles 11 (Interest) and 12 (Royalties). 

Subparagraph 5(b) eliminates the potential for double taxation that can arise as a 

result of the absence of a full German foreign tax credit, because of subparagraph 5a), for 

the U.S. tax imposed on its citizens who are German residents. The subparagraph 

provides that the United States will credit the German income tax paid or accrued, after 

the application of subparagraph 5a). It further provides that in allowing the credit, the 

United States will not reduce its tax below the amount which is allowed as a creditable 

tax in Germany under subparagraph 5a). 

Since the income described in paragraph 5(a) generally will be U.S. source 

income, special rules are required to resource some of the income as German source in 

order for the United States to be able to credit the German tax. This resourcing is 

provided for in subparagraph 5c), which deems the items of income referred to in 

subparagraph 5a) to be from German sources to the extent necessary to avoid double 

taxation under subparagraph 5b). Subparagraph 3(c)(cc) of Article 25 (Mutual 

Agreement Procedure) provides a mechanism by which the competent authorities can 

resolve any disputes regarding whether income is from sources within the United States. 

The following two examples illustrate the application of paragraph 5 in the case 

of a U.S.-source portfolio dividend received by a U.S. citizen resident in the Federal 

Republic of Germany. In both examples, the U.S. rate of tax on residents of the Federal 

Republic of Germany, under subparagraph (b) of paragraph 2 of Article 10 (Dividends) 

of the Convention, is 15 percent. In both examples, the U.S. income tax rate on the U.S. 

citizen is 35 percent. In example 1, the German income tax rate on its resident (the U.S. 

citizen) is 25 percent (below the U.S. rate), and in example 2, the German rate on its 

resident is 40 percent (above the U.S. rate). 

36
Example1 Example 2

 Subparagraph (a) 

U.S. dividend declared $100.00 $100.00 

Notional U.S. withholding tax (Article 10(2)(b)) 15.00 15.00 

German taxable income 100.00 100.00 

German tax before credit 25.00 40.00 

German foreign tax credit for notional U.S. withholding tax 15.00 15.00 

Net post-credit German tax 10.00 25.00 

Subparagraphs (b) and (c) 

U.S. pre-tax income $100.00 $100.00 

U.S. pre-credit citizenship tax 35.00 35.00 

Notional U.S. withholding tax 15.00 15.00 

U.S. tax available for credit 20.00 20.00 

Tax paid to other Contracting State 10.00 25.00 

Income re-sourced from U.S. to German (see below) 28.57 57.14 

U.S. pre-credit tax on re-sourced income 10.00 20.00 

U.S. credit for German tax 10.00 20.00 

Net post-credit U.S. tax 10.00 0.00 

Total U.S. tax 25.00 15.00 

In both examples, in the application of subparagraph (a), the Federal Republic of 

Germany credits a 15 percent U.S. tax against its residence tax on the U.S. citizen. In the 

first example, the net German tax after the German foreign tax credit is $10.00; in the 

second example, it is $25.00. In the application of subparagraphs (b) and (c), from the 

U.S. tax due before credit of $35.00, the United States subtracts the amount of the U.S. 

source tax of $15.00, against which no U.S. foreign tax credit is allowed. This subtraction 

ensures that the United States collects the tax that it is due under the Convention as the 

State of source. 

In both examples, given the 35 percent U.S. tax rate, the maximum amount of 

U.S. tax against which credit for the German tax may be claimed is $20 ($35 U.S. tax 

minus $15 U.S. withholding tax). Initially, all of the income in both examples was from 

sources within the United States. For a U.S. foreign tax credit to be allowed for the full 

amount of the German tax, an appropriate amount of the income must be re-sourced to 

the Federal Republic of Germany under subparagraph (c). 

The amount that must be re-sourced depends on the amount of German tax for 

which the U.S. citizen is claiming a U.S. foreign tax credit. In example 1, the German tax 

was $10. For this amount to be creditable against U.S. tax, $28.57 ($10 German tax 

divided by 35 percent U.S. tax rate) must be resourced to the Federal Republic of 

Germany. When the German tax is credited against the $10 of U.S. tax on this resourced 

income, there is a net U.S. tax of $10 due after credit ($20 U.S. tax minus $10 German 

tax). Thus, in example 1, there is a total of $25 in U.S. tax ($15 U.S. withholding tax plus 

$10 residual U.S. tax). 

37
In example 2, the German tax was $25, but, because the United States subtracts 

the U.S. withholding tax of $15 from the total U.S. tax of $35, only $20 of U.S. taxes 

may be offset by German taxes. Accordingly, the amount that must be resourced to the 

Federal Republic of Germany is limited to the amount necessary to ensure a U.S. foreign 

tax credit for $20 of German tax, or $57.14 ($20 German tax divided by 35 percent U.S. 

tax rate). When the German tax is credited against the U.S. tax on this re-sourced income, 

there is no residual U.S. tax ($20 U.S. tax minus $25 German tax, subject to the U.S. 

limit of $20). Thus, in example 2, there is a total of $15 in U.S. tax ($15 U.S. withholding 

tax plus $0 residual U.S. tax). Because the German tax was $25 and the U.S. tax available 

for credit was $20, there is $5 of excess U.S. tax credit available for carryover. 

Relation to other articles 

By virtue of subparagraph (a) of paragraph 5 of Article 1 (General Scope), Article 

23 is not subject to the saving clause of paragraph 4 of Article 1. Thus, the United States 

will allow a credit to its citizens and residents in accordance with the Article, even if such 

credit were to provide a benefit not available under the Code (such as the re-sourcing 

provided by paragraph 2 and subparagraph 5(c)). 

Article XIII 

Article XIII of the Protocol deletes paragraph 5 of Article 25 (Mutual Agreement 

Procedure) of the Convention, providing for voluntary binding arbitration, and replaces it 

with new paragraphs 5 and 6, which introduce a mandatory binding arbitration procedure. 

A case shall be resolved through arbitration when the competent authorities have 

endeavored but are unable to reach a complete agreement regarding a case through 

negotiation and the following three conditions are satisfied. First, tax returns have been 

filed with at least one of the Contracting States with respect to the taxable years at issue 

in the case. Second, the case: (i) is a case that involves one or more enumerated articles 

of the Convention, and is not a case that the competent authorities agree before the date 

on which arbitration proceedings would otherwise have begun, is not suitable for 

determination by arbitration; or (ii) is a case that the competent authorities agree is 

suitable for determination by arbitration. Third, all concerned persons and their 

authorized representatives agree not to disclose to any other person any information 

received during the course of the arbitration proceeding from either the Contracting 

States or the arbitration board, other than the determination of the board (confidentiality 

agreement). The confidentiality agreement may also be executed by any concerned 

person that has the legal authority to bind any other concerned person on the matter. For 

example, a parent corporation with the legal authority to bind its subsidiary with respect 

to confidentiality may execute a comprehensive confidentiality agreement on its own 

behalf and that of its subsidiary. 

Paragraph 22 of Article XVI of the Protocol provides that cases regarding the 

application of one or more of the following articles may be the subject of mandatory 

binding arbitration, if the requirements of paragraphs 5 and 6 of Article 25 are otherwise 

38
satisfied: Article 4 (Residence) as its relates to residence of a natural person, Article 5 

(Permanent Establishment), Article 7 (Business Profits), Article 9 (Associated 

Enterprises), and Article 12 (Royalties). The application of one or more of the other 

provisions in the Convention to which Article 25 applies may be the subject of binding 

arbitration should the competent authorities agree. 

A concerned person means the person that brought the case to competent 

authority for consideration under Article 25 and includes all other persons, if any, whose 

tax liability to either Contracting State may be directly affected by a mutual agreement 

arising from that consideration. For example, a concerned person does not only include a 

U.S. corporation that brings a transfer pricing case with respect to a transaction entered 

into with its German subsidiary for resolution to the U.S. competent authority, but also 

the German subsidiary, which may have a correlative adjustment as a result of the 

resolution of the case. 

An arbitration proceeding begins on the later of two dates: two years from the 

commencement date of that case, unless both competent authorities have previously 

agreed to a different date, or the earliest date upon which the all concerned persons have 

entered into a confidentiality agreement and the agreements have been received by both 

competent authorities. The commencement date is the earliest date on which information 

necessary to undertake substantive consideration for mutual agreement has been received 

by both competent authorities. Clause p) of paragraph 22 of Article XVI of the Protocol 

provides that each competent authority will confirm in writing to the other competent 

authority and to the concerned persons the date of its receipt of the information necessary 

to undertake substantive consideration for a mutual agreement. In the case of the United 

States, this information is (i) the information that must be submitted to the U.S. 

competent authority under Section 4.05 of Rev. Proc. 2002-52, 2002-2 C.B. 242, as it 

might be amended from time to time, and (ii) for cases initially submitted as a request for 

an Advance Pricing Agreement, the information that must be submitted to the Internal 

Revenue Service under Section 4 Rev. Proc. 2006-9, 2006-2 I.R.B. 278, as it might be 

amended from time to time. In the case of the Federal Republic of Germany, this 

information is the information that must be submitted to the German competent authority 

pursuant to the German Ministry of Finance’s circular of July 1, 1997, -IV C 5 - S 1300 – 

189/96. The information will not be considered received until both competent authorities 

receive copies of all materials submitted by concerned persons in connection with the 

mutual agreement procedure. 

Paragraph 22 of Article XVI of the Protocol provides for a several procedural 

rules once an arbitration proceeding under paragraph 5 of Article 25 (“Proceeding”) has 

commenced, but the competent authorities may modify or supplement these rules as 

necessary. In addition, the arbitration board may adopt any procedures necessary for the 

conduct of its business, provided the procedures are not inconsistent with any provision 

of Article 25 of the Convention. 

Subparagraph (e) of paragraph 22 of Article XVI of the Protocol provides that 

each Contracting State has 60 days from the date on which the Proceeding begins to send 

39
a written communication to the other Contracting State appointing one member of the 

arbitration board. Within 60 days of the date the second of such communications is sent, 

these two board members will appoint a third member to serve as the chair of the board. 

The chair may not be a citizen of either Contracting State. In the event that any members 

of the board are not appointed (including as a result of the failure of the two members 

appointed by the Contracting States to agree on a third member) by the requisite date, the 

remaining members are appointed by the highest ranking member of the Secretariat at the 

Centre for Tax Policy and Administration of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation 

and Development (OECD) who is not a citizen of either Contracting State, by written 

notice to both Contracting States within 60 days of the date of such failure. 

Clause (g) of paragraph 22 of Article XVI of the Protocol establishes deadlines 

for submission of materials by the Contracting States to the arbitration board. Each 

competent authority has 90 days from the date of appointment of the chair to submit a 

Proposed Resolution describing the proposed disposition of the specific monetary 

amounts of income, expense or taxation at issue in the case, and a supporting Position 

Paper. Copies of each State’s submissions are to be provided by the board to the other 

Contracting State on the date the later of the submissions is submitted to the board. Each 

of the Contracting States may submit a Reply Submission to the board within 180 days of 

the appointment of the chair to address points raised in the other State’s Proposed 

Resolution or Position Paper. If one Contracting State fails to submit a Proposed 

Resolution within the requisite time, the Proposed Resolution of the other Contracting 

State is deemed to be the determination of the arbitration board. No other information 

may be supplied to the arbitration board, unless it requests additional information. 

Copies of any such requested information, along with the board’s request, must be 

provided to the other Contracting State on the date the request or response is submitted. 

All communication with the board is to be in writing between the chair of the 

board and the designated competent authorities with the exception of communication 

regarding logistical matters. 

In making its determination the arbitration board will apply the following 

authorities as necessary and in descending order of relevance: (i) the provisions of the 

Convention, (ii) any agreed commentaries or explanation of the Contracting States 

concerning the Convention, (iii) the laws of the Contracting States to the extent they are 

not inconsistent with each other, and (iv) any OECD Commentary, Guidelines or Reports 

regarding relevant analogous portions of the OECD Model Tax Convention. 

The arbitration board must deliver a determination in writing to the Contracting 

States within 9 months of the appointment of the chair. The determination must be one 

of the two Proposed Resolutions submitted by the Contracting States. The determination 

may only provide a determination regarding the amount of income, expense or tax 

reportable to the Contracting States. The determination has no precedential value and 

consequently the rationale behind a board’s determination would not be beneficial and 

may not be provided by the board. 

40
Unless any concerned person does not accept the decision of the arbitration board, 

the determination of the board constitutes a resolution by mutual agreement under Article 

25 and, consequently, is binding on both Contracting States. Within 30 days of receiving 

the determination from the competent authority to which the case was first presented, 

each concerned person must advise that competent authority whether the person accepts 

the determination. The failure to advise the competent authority within the requisite time 

is considered a rejection of the determination. In addition, if the case is in litigation, the 

concerned persons must advise the relevant court of their acceptance of the arbitration 

determination, and withdraw from the litigation the issues resolved by the MAP 

arbitration. If a determination is rejected the case cannot be the subject of a subsequent 

Proceeding. After the commencement of the Proceeding but before a decision of the 

board has been accepted by all concerned persons, the competent authorities may reach a 

mutual agreement to resolve the case and terminate the Proceeding. 

For purposes of the arbitration proceeding, the members of the arbitration board 

and their staffs shall be considered “persons or authorities” to whom information may be 

disclosed under Article 26 (Exchange of Information and Administrative Assistance). 

Paragraph 22 of Article XVI of the Protocol provides that all materials prepared in the 

course of, or relating to the Proceeding are considered information exchanged between 

the Contracting States. No information relating to the Proceeding or the board’s 

determination may be disclosed by members of the arbitration board or their staffs or by 

either competent authority, except as permitted by the Convention and the domestic laws 

of the Contracting States. Members of the arbitration board and their staffs must agree in 

statements sent to each of the Contracting States in confirmation of their appointment to 

the arbitration board to abide by and be subject to the confidentiality and nondisclosure 

provisions of Article 26 of the Convention and the applicable domestic laws of the 

Contracting States, with the most restrictive of the provisions applying. 

The applicable domestic law of the Contracting States determines the treatment of 

any interest or penalties associated with a competent authority agreement achieved 

through arbitration. 

Fees and expenses are borne equally by the Contracting States, including the cost 

of translation services. In general, the fees of members of the arbitration board will be set 

at the fixed amount of $2,000 per day (or the equivalent amount in Euro). The expenses 

of members of the board will be set in accordance with the International Centre for 

Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Schedule of Fees for arbitrators (in effect on 

the date on which the arbitration board proceedings begin). The competent authorities 

may amend the set fees and expenses of members of the board. Meeting facilities, related 

resources, financial management, other logistical support, and general and administrative 

coordination of the Proceeding will be provided, at its own cost, by the Contracting State 

whose competent authority initiated the mutual agreement proceedings. All other costs 

are to be borne by the Contracting State that incurs them. 

41
Article XIV 

 Article XIV of the Protocol replaces Article 28 (Limitation on Benefits) of the 

Convention. 

Structure of the Article 

Article 28 contains anti-treaty-shopping provisions that are intended to prevent 

residents of third countries from benefiting from what is intended to be a reciprocal 

agreement between two countries. In general, the provision does not rely on a 

determination of purpose or intention but instead sets forth a series of objective tests. A 

resident of a Contracting State that satisfies one of the tests will receive benefits 

regardless of its motivations in choosing its particular business structure. 

The structure of the Article is as follows: Paragraph 1 states the general rule that 

a resident of a Contracting State is entitled to benefits otherwise accorded to residents 

only to the extent that the resident is a “qualified person” and satisfies any satisfies any 

other conditions specified in the Convention for the obtaining of benefits. Paragraph 2 

lists a series of attributes of a resident of a Contracting State, any one of which suffices to 

make such resident a "qualified person" and thus entitled to all the benefits of the 

Convention. Paragraph 3 provides a so-called "derivative benefits" test under which 

certain categories of income may qualify for benefits. Paragraph 4 sets forth the “active 

trade or business test”, under which a person may be granted benefits with regard to 

certain types of income regardless of whether the person is a qualified person. Paragraph 

5 provides special rules for so-called "triangular cases" notwithstanding the other 

provisions of Article 28. Paragraph 6 provides a special rule for Investmentvermögen. 

Paragraph 7 provides that benefits may also be granted if the competent authority of the 

State from which the benefits are claimed determines that it is appropriate to grant 

benefits in that case. Paragraph 8 defines the terms used specifically in this Article. 

Paragraph 1 

Paragraph 1 provides that, except as otherwise provided, a resident of a 

Contracting State is entitled to all the benefits of the Convention otherwise accorded to 

residents of a Contracting State only if the resident is a “qualified person” as defined in 

paragraph 2 of Article 28. 

The benefits otherwise accorded to residents under the Convention include all 

limitations on source-based taxation under Articles 6 through 22, the treaty-based relief 

from double taxation, and the protection afforded to residents of a Contracting State 

under Article 24 (Nondiscrimination). Some provisions do not require that a person be a 

resident in order to enjoy the benefits of those provisions. For example, Article 25 

(Mutual Agreement Procedure) is not limited to residents of the Contracting States, and 

Article 19 (Government Service) applies to government employees regardless of 

residence. Article 28 accordingly does not limit the availability of treaty benefits under 

such provisions. 

42
Article 28 and the anti-abuse provisions of domestic law complement each other, 

as Article 28 effectively determines whether an entity has a sufficient nexus to a 

Contracting State to be treated as a resident for treaty purposes, while domestic antiabuse provisions (e.g., business purpose, substance-over-form, step transaction or conduit 

principles) determine whether a particular transaction should be recast in accordance with 

its substance. Thus, internal law principles of the source Contracting State may be 

applied to identify the beneficial owner of an item of income, and Article 28 then will be 

applied to the beneficial owner to determine if that person is entitled to the benefits of the 

Convention with respect to such income. 

Paragraph 2 

Paragraph 2 has six subparagraphs, each of which describes a category of 

residents that are entitled to all benefits of the Convention. It is intended that the 

provisions of paragraph 2 will be self-executing. Claiming benefits under paragraph 2 

does not require an advance competent authority ruling or approval. The tax authorities 

may, of course, on review, determine that the taxpayer has improperly interpreted the 

paragraph and is not entitled to the benefits claimed. 

Individuals -- Subparagraph 2(a) 

Subparagraph (a) provides that individual residents of a Contracting State will be 

entitled to all the benefits of the Convention. If such an individual receives income as a 

nominee on behalf of a third country resident, benefits may be denied under the 

applicable articles of the Convention by the requirement that the beneficial owner of the 

income be a resident of a Contracting State. 

Governments -- Subparagraph 2(b) 

Subparagraph (b) provides that the Contracting States and any political 

subdivision or local authority thereof will be entitled to all the benefits of the Convention. 

Publicly-Traded Corporations -- Subparagraph 2(c)(aa) 

Subparagraph (c) applies to two categories of companies: publicly traded 

companies and subsidiaries of publicly traded companies. A company resident in a 

Contracting State is entitled to all the benefits of the Convention under clause (aa) of 

subparagraph (c) if the principal class of its shares, and any disproportionate class of 

shares, is regularly traded on one or more recognized stock exchanges and the company 

satisfies at least one of the following additional tests. First, the company’s principal class 

of shares is primarily traded on a recognized stock exchange located in a Contracting 

State of which the company is a resident. Second, the company’s primary place of 

management and control is in its State of residence. 

43
The term "recognized stock exchange" is defined in subparagraph (a) of paragraph 

8. It includes the NASDAQ System and any stock exchange registered with the 

Securities and Exchange Commission as a national securities exchange for purposes of 

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and any German stock exchange on which 

registered dealings in shares takes place. The term also includes any other stock 

exchange agreed upon by the competent authorities of the Contracting States. 

If a company has only one class of shares, it is only necessary to consider whether 

the shares of that class meet the relevant trading requirements. If the company has more 

than one class of shares, it is necessary as an initial matter to determine which class or 

classes constitute the “principal class of shares.” The term "principal class of shares" is 

defined in clause (b)(aa) of paragraph 8 to mean the ordinary or common shares of the 

company representing the majority of the aggregate voting power and value of the 

company. If the company does not have a class of ordinary or common shares 

representing the majority of the aggregate voting power and value of the company, then 

the "principal class of shares" is that class or any combination of classes of shares that 

represents, in the aggregate, a majority of the voting power and value of the company. 

Although in a particular case involving a company with several classes of shares it is 

conceivable that more than one group of classes could be identified that account for more 

than 50% of the shares, it is only necessary for one such group to satisfy the requirements 

of this subparagraph in order for the company to be entitled to benefits. Benefits would 

not be denied to the company even if a second, non-qualifying, group of shares with more 

than half of the company's voting power and value could be identified. Clause (c)(bb) of 

paragraph 8 defines the term "shares" to include depository receipts for shares or trust 

certificates for shares. 

A company whose principal class of shares is regularly traded on a recognized 

stock exchange will nevertheless not qualify for benefits under subparagraph (c) of 

paragraph 2 if it has a disproportionate class of shares that is not regularly traded on a 

recognized stock exchange. The term "disproportionate class of shares" is defined in 

subparagraph (c) of paragraph 8. A company has a disproportionate class of shares if it 

has outstanding a class of shares that is subject to terms or other arrangements that entitle 

the holder to a larger portion of the company’s income, profit, or gain in the other 

Contracting State than that to which the holder would be entitled in the absence of such 

terms or arrangements. Thus, for example, a company resident in the Federal Republic of 

Germany meets the test of subparagraph (c) of paragraph 8 if it has outstanding a class of 

"tracking stock" that pays dividends based upon a formula that approximates the 

company’s return on its assets employed in the United States. 

The following example illustrates this result. 

Example. GCo is a corporation resident in the Federal Republic of Germany. GCo has 

two classes of shares: Common and Preferred. The Common shares are listed and 

regularly traded on the Frankfurt Stockholm Stock Exchange. The Preferred shares have 

no voting rights and are entitled to receive dividends equal in amount to interest 

payments that GCo receives from unrelated borrowers in the United States. The Preferred 

shares are owned entirely by a single investor that is a resident of a country with which 

44
the United States does not have a tax treaty. The Common shares account for more than 

50 percent of the value of GCo and for 100 percent of the voting power. Because the 

owner of the Preferred shares is entitled to receive payments corresponding to the U.S. 

source interest income earned by GCo, the Preferred shares are a disproportionate class of 

shares. Because the Preferred shares are not regularly traded on a recognized stock 

exchange, GCo will not qualify for benefits under subparagraph (c) of paragraph 2. 

 The term "regularly traded" is not defined in the Convention. In accordance 

with paragraph 2 of Article 3 (General Definitions), this term will be defined by reference 

to the domestic tax laws of the State from which treaty benefits are sought, generally the 

source State. In the case of the United States, this term is understood to have the 

meaning it has under Treas. Reg. section 1.884-5(d)(4)(i)(B), relating to the branch tax 

provisions of the Code. Under these regulations, a class of shares is considered to be 

"regularly traded" if two requirements are met: trades in the class of shares are made in 

more than de minimis quantities on at least 60 days during the taxable year, and the 

aggregate number of shares in the class traded during the year is at least 10 percent of the 

average number of shares outstanding during the year. Sections 1.884-5(d)(4)(i)(A), (ii) 

and (iii) will not be taken into account for purposes of defining the term "regularly 

traded" under the Convention. 

The regular trading requirement can be met by trading on any recognized 

exchange or exchanges. Trading on one or more recognized stock exchanges may be 

aggregated for purposes of this requirement. Thus, a U.S. company could satisfy the 

regularly traded requirement through trading, in whole or in part, on a recognized stock 

exchange located in the Federal Republic of Germany. Authorized but unissued shares 

are not considered for purposes of this test. 

The term “primarily traded” is not defined in the Convention. In accordance with 

paragraph 2 of Article 3 (General Definitions), this term will have the meaning it has 

under the laws of the State concerning the taxes to which the Convention applies, 

generally the source State. In the case of the United States, this term is understood to 

have the meaning it has under Treas. Reg. section 1.884-5(d)(3), relating to the branch 

tax provisions of the Code. Accordingly, stock of a corporation is “primarily traded” on 

a recognized stock exchange located in the State of residence if the number of shares in 

the company’s principal class of shares that are traded during the taxable year on all 

recognized stock exchanges in the State of residence exceeds the number of shares in the 

company’s principal class of shares that are traded during that year on established 

securities markets in any other single foreign country. 

A company whose principal class of shares is regularly traded on a recognized 

exchange but cannot meet the primarily traded test may claim treaty benefits if its 

primary place of management and control is in its country of residence. This test should 

be distinguished from the “place of effective management” test which is used in the 

OECD Model and by many other countries to establish residence. In some cases, the 

place of effective management test has been interpreted to mean the place where the 

board of directors meets. By contrast, the primary place of management and control test 

45
looks to where day-to-day responsibility for the management of the company (and its 

subsidiaries) is exercised. The company’s primary place of management and control will 

be located in the State in which the company is a resident only if the executive officers 

and senior management employees exercise day-to-day responsibility for more of the 

strategic, financial and operational policy decision making for the company (including 

direct and indirect subsidiaries) in that State than in the other State or any third state, and 

the staff that support the management in making those decisions are also based in that 

State. Thus, the test looks to the overall activities of the relevant persons to see where 

those activities are conducted. In most cases, it will be a necessary, but not a sufficient, 

condition that the headquarters of the company (that is, the place at which the CEO and 

other top executives normally are based) be located in the Contracting State of which the 

company is a resident. 

To apply the test, it will be necessary to determine which persons are to be 

considered “executive officers and senior management employees”. In most cases, it will 

not be necessary to look beyond the executives who are members of the Board of 

Directors (the “inside directors”) in the case of a U.S. company. That will not always be 

the case, however; in fact, the relevant persons may be employees of subsidiaries if those 

persons make the strategic, financial and operational policy decisions. Moreover, it 

would be necessary to take into account any special voting arrangements that result in 

certain board members making certain decisions without the participation of other board 

members. 

Subsidiaries of Publicly-Traded Corporations -- Subparagraph 2(c)(bb) 

A company resident in a Contracting State is entitled to all the benefits of the 

Convention under clause (bb) of subparagraph (c) of paragraph 2 if five or fewer publicly 

traded companies described in clause (i) are the direct or indirect owners of at least 50 

percent of the aggregate vote and value of the company’s shares (and at least 50 percent 

of any disproportionate class of shares). If the publicly-traded companies are indirect 

owners, however, each of the intermediate companies must be a resident of one of the 

Contracting States. 

Thus, for example, a German company, all the shares of which are owned by 

another German company, would qualify for benefits under the Convention if the 

principal class of shares (and any disproportionate classes of shares) of the German 

parent company are regularly and primarily traded on the London stock exchange. 

However, a German subsidiary would not qualify for benefits under clause (ii) if the 

publicly traded parent company were a resident of Ireland, for example, and not a 

resident of the United States or Germany. Furthermore, if a German parent company 

indirectly owned a German company through a chain of subsidiaries, each such 

subsidiary in the chain, as an intermediate owner, must be a resident of the United States 

or Germany for the German subsidiary to meet the test in clause (bb). 

46
Tax-Exempt Organizations -- Subparagraph 2(d) 

The Contracting States agreed that certain tax-exempt organizations should be 

entitled to all the benefits of the Convention, without regard to the residence of 

beneficiaries or members. Entities qualifying under this subparagraph are those that are 

organized under the laws of one of the Contracting States and established and maintained 

in that Contracting State exclusively for a religious, charitable, educational, scientific, or 

other similar purpose. 

Pension Funds -- Subparagraph 2(e) 

An entity organized under the laws of one of the Contracting States and 

established and maintained in that Contracting State to provide, pursuant to a plan, 

pension or other similar benefits to employed and self-employed persons, provided that 

more than 50 percent of the beneficiaries, members or participants of the entity are 

individuals resident in either Contracting State or if the organization sponsoring such 

person is entitled to all the benefits of the Convention under paragraph 2 of Article 28. 

For purposes of this provision, the term "beneficiaries" should be understood to refer to 

the persons receiving benefits from the entity. 

Ownership/Base Erosion -- Subparagraph 2(f) 

Subparagraph 2(f) provides an additional method to qualify for treaty benefits that 

applies to any form of legal entity that is a resident of a Contracting State. The test 

provided in subparagraph (f), the so-called ownership and base erosion test, is a two-part 

test. Both prongs of the test must be satisfied for the resident to be entitled to treaty 

benefits under subparagraph 2(f). 

The ownership prong of the test, under clause (aa), requires that 50 percent or 

more of each class of shares or other beneficial interests in the person is owned, directly 

or indirectly, on at least half the days of the person’s taxable year by persons who are 

residents of the Contracting State of which that person is a resident and that are 

themselves entitled to treaty benefits under certain parts of paragraph 2 -- subparagraphs 

(a), (b), (d), (e), or clause (aa) of subparagraph (c). In the case of indirect owners, 

however, each of the intermediate owners must be a resident of that Contracting State. 

Trusts may be entitled to benefits under this provision if they are treated as 

residents under Article 4 (Residence) and they otherwise satisfy the requirements of this 

subparagraph. For purposes of this subparagraph, the beneficial interests in a trust will be 

considered to be owned by its beneficiaries in proportion to each beneficiary's actuarial 

interest in the trust. The interest of a remainder beneficiary will be equal to 100 percent 

less the aggregate percentages held by income beneficiaries. A beneficiary's interest in a 

trust will not be considered to be owned by a person entitled to benefits under the other 

provisions of paragraph 2 if it is not possible to determine the beneficiary's actuarial 

interest. Consequently, if it is not possible to determine the actuarial interest of the 

beneficiaries in a trust, the ownership test under clause (aa) cannot be satisfied, unless all 

47
possible beneficiaries are persons entitled to benefits under the specified subparagraphs 

of paragraph 2. 

The base erosion prong of clause (bb) of subparagraph (f) is satisfied with respect 

to a person if less than 50 percent of the person’s gross income for the taxable year, as 

determined under the tax law in the person’s State of residence, is paid or accrued, 

directly or indirectly, to persons who are not residents of either Contracting State entitled 

to treaty benefits under subparagraph (a), (b), (d), (e), or clause (aa) of subparagraph (c), 

in the form of payments deductible for tax purposes in the person’s State of residence. 

To the extent they are deductible from the taxable base, trust distributions are deductible 

payments. However, depreciation and amortization deductions, which do not represent 

payments or accruals to other persons, are disregarded for this purpose. 

Paragraph 3 

Paragraph 3 sets forth a derivative benefits test that is potentially applicable to all 

treaty benefits, although the test is applied to individual items of income. In general, a 

derivative benefits test entitles the resident of a Contracting State to treaty benefits if the 

owner of the resident would have been entitled to the same benefit had the income in 

question flowed directly to that owner. To qualify under this paragraph, the company 

must meet an ownership test and a base erosion test. 

Subparagraph (a) sets forth the ownership test. Under this test, seven or fewer 

equivalent beneficiaries must own shares representing at least 95 percent of the aggregate 

voting power and value of the company and at least 50 percent of any disproportionate 

class of shares. Ownership may be direct or indirect. The term "equivalent beneficiary" 

is defined in subparagraph (e) of paragraph 8. This definition may be met in two 

alternative ways, the first of which has two requirements. 

Under the first alternative, a person may be an equivalent beneficiary because it is 

entitled to equivalent benefits under a treaty between the country of source and the 

country in which the person is a resident. This alternative has two requirements. 

The first requirement is that the person must be a resident of a member state of the 

European Union, a European Economic Area state, or a party to the North American Free 

Trade Agreement (collectively, "qualifying States"). 

The second requirement of the first alternative is that the person must be entitled 

to equivalent benefits under an applicable treaty. To satisfy the second requirement, the 

person must be entitled to all the benefits of a comprehensive treaty between the 

Contracting State from which benefits of the Convention are claimed and a qualifying 

State under provisions that are analogous to the rules in paragraph 2 of this Article 

regarding individuals, governments, publicly-traded companies, tax-exempt 

organizations, and pension funds. If the treaty in question does not have a comprehensive 

limitation on benefits article, this requirement is met only if the person would be entitled 

to treaty benefits under the tests in paragraph 2 of this Article applicable to individuals, 

48
governments, publicly-traded companies, tax-exempt organizations and pension funds. if 

the person were a resident of one of the Contracting States. 

In order to satisfy the second requirement of the first alternative with respect to 

insurance premiums, dividends, interest, royalties, or branch tax, paragraph 8(e)(aa)(B) 

provides that the person must be entitled to a rate of tax that is at least as low as the tax 

rate that would apply under the Convention to such income. Thus, the rates to be 

compared are: (1) the rate of tax that the source State would have imposed if a qualified 

resident of the other Contracting State was the beneficial owner of the income; and (2) 

the rate of tax that the source State would have imposed if the third State resident 

received the income directly from the source State. For example, USCo is a wholly 

owned subsidiary of GCo, a company resident in the Federal Republic of Germany. GCo 

is wholly owned by ICo, a corporation resident in Italy. Assuming GCo satisfies the 

requirements of paragraph 3 of Article 10 (Dividends), GCo would be eligible for the 

elimination of dividend withholding tax. The dividend withholding tax rate in the treaty 

between the United States and Italy is 5 percent. Thus, if ICo received the dividend 

directly from USCo, ICo would have been subject to a 5 percent rate of withholding tax 

on the dividend. Because ICo would not be entitled to a rate of withholding tax that is at 

least as low as the rate that would apply under the Convention to such income (i.e., zero), 

ICo is not an equivalent beneficiary within the meaning of paragraph 8(g)(aa) of Article 

28 with respect to the elimination of withholding tax on dividends. 

Subparagraph 8(f) provides a special rule to take account of the fact that 

withholding taxes on many inter-company dividends, interest and royalties are exempt 

within the European Union by reason of various EU directives, rather than by tax treaty. 

If a U.S. company receives such payments from a German company, and that U.S. 

company is owned by a company resident in a member state of the European Union that 

would have qualified for an exemption from withholding tax if it had received the income 

directly, the parent company will be treated as an equivalent beneficiary. This rule is 

necessary because many European Union member countries have not re-negotiated their 

tax treaties to reflect the rates applicable under the directives. 

 The requirement that a person be entitled to "all the benefits" of a comprehensive 

tax treaty eliminates those persons that qualify for benefits with respect to only certain 

types of income. Accordingly, the fact that a French parent of a German company is 

engaged in the active conduct of a trade or business in France and therefore would be 

entitled to the benefits of the U.S.-France treaty if it received dividends directly from a 

U.S. subsidiary of the German company is not sufficient for purposes of this paragraph. 

Further, the French company cannot be an equivalent beneficiary if it qualifies for 

benefits only with respect to certain income as a result of a "derivative benefits" 

provision in the U.S.-France treaty. However, it would be possible to look through the 

French company to its parent company to determine whether the parent company is an 

equivalent beneficiary. 

The second alternative for satisfying the "equivalent beneficiary" test is available 

only to residents of one of the two Contracting States. U.S. or German residents who are 

49
eligible for treaty benefits by reason of subparagraphs (a), (b), (c)(aa), (d), or (e) of 

paragraph 2 are equivalent beneficiaries under the second alternative. Thus, a German 

individual will be an equivalent beneficiary without regard to whether the individual 

would have been entitled to receive the same benefits if it received the income directly. 

A resident of a third country cannot qualify for treaty benefits under any of those 

subparagraphs or any other rule of the treaty, and therefore would not qualify as an 

equivalent beneficiary under this alternative. Thus, a resident of a third country can be an 

equivalent beneficiary only if it would have been entitled to equivalent benefits had it 

received the income directly. 

 The second alternative was included in order to clarify that ownership by certain 

residents of a Contracting State would not disqualify a U.S. or German company under 

this paragraph. Thus, for example, if 90 percent of a German company is owned by five 

companies that are resident in member states of the European Union who satisfy the 

requirements of clause (aa), and 10 percent of the German company is owned by a U.S. 

or German individual, then the German company still can satisfy the requirements of 

subparagraph (a) of paragraph 3. 

 Subparagraph (b) of paragraph 3 sets forth the base erosion test. A company 

meets this base erosion test if less than 50 percent of its gross income, as determined 

under the tax law in the company’s State of residence, for the taxable period is paid or 

accrued, directly or indirectly, to a person or persons who are not equivalent beneficiaries 

in the form of payments deductible for tax purposes in company’s State of residence. 

This test is the same as the base erosion test in clause (bb) of subparagraph (f) of 

paragraph 2, except that the test in subparagraph 3(b) focuses on base-eroding payments 

to persons who are not equivalent beneficiaries. 

Paragraph 4 

Paragraph 4 sets forth an alternative test under which a resident of a 

Contracting State may receive treaty benefits with respect to certain items of income 

that are connected to an active trade or business conducted in its State of residence. A 

resident of a Contracting State may qualify for benefits under paragraph 4 whether or 

not it also qualifies under paragraphs 2 or 3. 

Subparagraph (a) sets forth the general rule that a resident of a Contracting State 

engaged in the active conduct of a trade or business in that State may obtain the benefits 

of the Convention with respect to an item of income, profit, or gain derived from the 

other Contracting State. The item of income, profit, or gain, however, must be derived in 

connection with or incidental to that trade or business. 

The term "trade or business" is not defined in the Convention. Pursuant to 

paragraph 2 of Article 3 (General Definitions), when determining whether a resident of 

the Federal Republic of Germany is entitled to the benefits of the Convention under 

paragraph 4 of this Article with respect to an item of income derived from sources within 

the United States, the United States will ascribe to this term the meaning that it has under 

the law of the United States. Accordingly, the U.S. competent authority will refer to the 

50
regulations issued under section 367(a) for the definition of the term "trade or business." 

In general, therefore, a trade or business will be considered to be a specific unified group 

of activities that constitute or could constitute an independent economic enterprise carried 

on for profit. Furthermore, a corporation generally will be considered to carry on a trade 

or business only if the officers and employees of the corporation conduct substantial 

managerial and operational activities. 

The business of making or managing investments for the resident’s own account 

will be considered to be a trade or business only when part of banking, insurance or 

securities activities conducted by a bank, an insurance company, or a registered securities 

dealer. Such activities conducted by a person other than a bank, insurance company or 

registered securities dealer will not be considered to be the conduct of an active trade or 

business, nor would they be considered to be the conduct of an active trade or business if 

conducted by a bank, insurance company or registered securities dealer but not as part of 

the company’s banking, insurance or dealer business. . Because a headquarters operation 

is in the business of managing investments, a company that functions solely as a 

headquarters company will not be considered to be engaged in an active trade or business 

for purposes of paragraph 4. 

An item of income is derived in connection with a trade or business if the incomeproducing activity in the State of source is a line of business that "forms a part of" or is 

"complementary" to the trade or business conducted in the State of residence by the 

income recipient. 

A business activity generally will be considered to form part of a business activity 

conducted in the State of source if the two activities involve the design, manufacture or 

sale of the same products or type of products, or the provision of similar services. The 

line of business in the State of residence may be upstream, downstream, or parallel to the 

activity conducted in the State of source. Thus, the line of business may provide inputs 

for a manufacturing process that occurs in the State of source, may sell the output of that 

manufacturing process, or simply may sell the same sorts of products that are being sold 

by the trade or business carried on in the State of source. 

Example 1. USCo is a corporation resident in the United States. USCo is engaged in an 

active manufacturing business in the United States. USCo owns 100 percent of the shares 

of GCo, a company resident in the Federal Republic of Germany. GCo distributes USCo 

products in Germany. Because the business activities conducted by the two corporations 

involve the same products, GCo’s distribution business is considered to form a part of 

USCo’s manufacturing business. 

Example 2. The facts are the same as in Example 1, except that USCo does not 

manufacture. Rather, USCo operates a large research and development facility in the 

United States that licenses intellectual property to affiliates worldwide, including GCo. 

GCo and other USCo affiliates then manufacture and market the USCo-designed 

products in their respective markets. Because the activities conducted by GCo and USCo 

51
involve the same product lines, these activities are considered to form a part of the same 

trade or business. 

For two activities to be considered to be "complementary," the activities need not 

relate to the same types of products or services, but they should be part of the same 

overall industry and be related in the sense that the success or failure of one activity will 

tend to result in success or failure for the other. Where more than one trade or business is 

conducted in the State of source and only one of the trades or businesses forms a part of 

or is complementary to a trade or business conducted in the State of residence, it is 

necessary to identify the trade or business to which an item of income is attributable. 

Royalties generally will be considered to be derived in connection with the trade or 

business to which the underlying intangible property is attributable. Dividends will be 

deemed to be derived first out of earnings and profits of the treaty-benefited trade or 

business, and then out of other earnings and profits. Interest income may be allocated 

under any reasonable method consistently applied. A method that conforms to U.S. 

principles for expense allocation will be considered a reasonable method. 

Example 3. Americair is a corporation resident in the United States that operates an 

international airline. GSub is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Americair resident in the 

Federal Republic of Germany. SSub operates a chain of hotels in the Federal Republic of 

Germany that are located near airports served by Americair flights. Americair frequently 

sells tour packages that include air travel to the Federal Republic of Germany and lodging 

at GSub hotels. Although both companies are engaged in the active conduct of a trade or 

business, the businesses of operating a chain of hotels and operating an airline are distinct 

trades or businesses. Therefore GSub’s business does not form a part of Americair’s 

business. However, GSub’s business is considered to be complementary to Americair’s 

business because they are part of the same overall industry (travel), and the links between 

their operations tend to make them interdependent. 

Example 4. The facts are the same as in Example 3, except that GSub owns an office 

building in the Federal Republic of Germany instead of a hotel chain. No part of 

Americair’s business is conducted through the office building. GSub’s business is not 

considered to form a part of or to be complementary to Americair’s business. They are 

engaged in distinct trades or businesses in separate industries, and there is no economic 

dependence between the two operations. 

Example 5. USFlower is a company resident in the United States. USFlower produces 

and sells flowers in the United States and other countries. USFlower owns all the shares 

of GHolding, a corporation resident in the Federal Republic of Germany. GHolding is a 

holding company that is not engaged in a trade or business. GHolding owns all the 

shares of three corporations that are resident in the Federal Republic of Germany: 

GFlower, GLawn, and GFish. GFlower distributes USFlower flowers under the 

USFlower trademark in the Federal Republic of Germany. GLawn markets a line of lawn 

care products in the Federal Republic of Germany under the USFlower trademark. In 

addition to being sold under the same trademark, GLawn and GFlower products are sold 

in the same stores and sales of each company’s products tend to generate increased sales 

52
of the other’s products. GFish imports fish from the United States and distributes it to 

fish wholesalers in the Federal Republic of Germany. For purposes of paragraph 4, the 

business of GFlower forms a part of the business of USFlower, the business of GLawn is 

complementary to the business of USFlower, and the business of GFish is neither part of 

nor complementary to that of USFlower. 

An item of income derived from the State of source is "incidental to" the trade or 

business carried on in the State of residence if production of the item facilitates the 

conduct of the trade or business in the State of residence. An example of incidental 

income is the temporary investment of working capital of a person in the State of 

residence in securities issued by persons in the State of source. 

Subparagraph (b) of paragraph 4 states a further condition to the general rule in 

subparagraph (a) in cases where the trade or business generating the item of income in 

question is carried on either by the person deriving the income or by any associated 

enterprises. Subparagraph (b) states that the trade or business carried on in the State of 

residence, under these circumstances, must be substantial in relation to the activity in the 

State of source. The substantiality requirement is intended to prevent a narrow case of 

treaty-shopping abuses in which a company attempts to qualify for benefits by engaging 

in de minimis connected business activities in the treaty country in which it is resident 

(i.e., activities that have little economic cost or effect with respect to the company 

business as a whole). 

The determination of substantiality is made based upon all the facts and 

circumstances and takes into account the comparative sizes of the trades or businesses in 

each Contracting State , the nature of the activities performed in each Contracting State, 

and the relative contributions made to that trade or business in each Contracting State. In 

any case, in making each determination or comparison, due regard will be given to the 

relative sizes of the U.S. and German economies. 

The determination in subparagraph (b) also is made separately for each item of 

income derived from the State of source. It therefore is possible that a person would be 

entitled to the benefits of the Convention with respect to one item of income but not with 

respect to another. If a resident of a Contracting State is entitled to treaty benefits with 

respect to a particular item of income under paragraph 4, the resident is entitled to all 

benefits of the Convention insofar as they affect the taxation of that item of income in the 

State of source. 

The application of the substantiality requirement only to income from related 

parties focuses only on potential abuse cases, and does not hamper certain other kinds of 

non-abusive activities, even though the income recipient resident in a Contracting State 

may be very small in relation to the entity generating income in the other Contracting 

State. For example, if a small U.S. research firm develops a process that it licenses to a 

very large, unrelated, German pharmaceutical manufacturer, the size of the U.S. research 

firm would not have to be tested against the size of the German manufacturer. Similarly, 

53
a small U.S. bank that makes a loan to a very large unrelated German business would not 

have to pass a substantiality test to receive treaty benefits under paragraph 4. 

Subparagraph (c) of paragraph 4 provides special attribution rules for purposes of 

applying the substantive rules of subparagraphs (a) and (b). Thus, these rules apply for 

purposes of determining whether a person meets the requirement in subparagraph (a) that 

it be engaged in the active conduct of a trade or business and that the item of income is 

derived in connection with that active trade or business, and for making the comparison 

required by the “substantiality” requirement in subparagraph (b). Subparagraph (c) 

attributes the activities of a partnership to each of its partners. Subparagraph (c) also 

attributes to a person activities conducted by persons "connected" to such person. A 

person ("X") is connected to another person ("Y") if X possesses 50 percent or more of 

the beneficial interest in Y (or if Y possesses 50 percent or more of the beneficial interest 

in X). For this purpose, X is connected to a company if X owns shares representing fifty 

percent or more of the aggregate voting power and value of the company or fifty percent 

or more of the beneficial equity interest in the company. X also is connected to Y if a 

third person possesses fifty percent or more of the beneficial interest in both X and Y. 

For this purpose, if X or Y is a company, the threshold relationship with respect to such 

company or companies is fifty percent or more of the aggregate voting power and value 

or fifty percent or more of the beneficial equity interest. Finally, X is connected to Y if, 

based upon all the facts and circumstances, X controls Y, Y controls X, or X and Y are 

controlled by the same person or persons. 

Paragraph 5 

Paragraph 5 deals with the treatment of income in the context of a so-called 

"triangular case." 

The term "triangular case" refers to the use of the following structure by a resident 

of the Federal Republic of Germany to earn, in the example, interest income from the 

United States. The German resident, who is assumed to qualify for benefits under one or 

more of the provisions of Article 28 (Limitation on Benefits), sets up a permanent 

establishment in a third jurisdiction that imposes only a low rate of tax on the income of 

the permanent establishment. The German resident lends funds into the United States 

through the permanent establishment. The permanent establishment, despite its thirdjurisdiction location, is an integral part of a German resident. Therefore the income that 

it earns on those loans, absent the provisions of paragraph 5, is entitled to exemption 

from U.S. withholding tax under the Convention. Under a German tax treaty with the 

host jurisdiction of the permanent establishment, the income of the permanent 

establishment is exempt from German tax. Thus, the interest income is exempt from U.S. 

tax, is subject to little tax in the host jurisdiction of the permanent establishment, and is 

exempt from German tax. 

 Paragraph 5 replaces the otherwise applicable rules in the Convention for 

dividends, interest and royalties with a 15 percent withholding tax for these amounts and 

the domestic law rules of the source country for any other income, if the actual tax paid 

54
on the income in the country of residence of the enterprise and in the third jurisdiction is 

less than 60 percent of the tax that would have been payable in the country of residence 

of the enterprise if the income were earned in such country by the enterprise and were not 

attributable to the permanent establishment in the third state. 

In general, the principles employed under Code section 954(b)(4) will be 

employed to determine whether the profits are subject to an effective rate of taxation that 

is above the specified threshold. 

Notwithstanding the level of tax on income of the permanent establishment, 

paragraph 5 does not apply under certain circumstances. In the case of royalties, 

paragraph 5 does not apply if the royalties are received as compensation for the use of, or 

the right to use, intangible property produced or developed by the permanent 

establishment itself. In the case of other income, paragraph 5 does not apply if the 

income is derived in connection with, or is incidental to, the active conduct of a trade or 

business carried on by the permanent establishment in the third state. The business of 

making, managing or simply holding investments for the person’s own account is not 

considered to be an active trade or business, unless these are banking or securities 

activities carried on by a bank or registered securities dealer. 

Paragraph 6 

Paragraph 6 provides that German Investment Funds or German 

Investmentaktiengesellschaft (collectively referred to as Investmentvermögen) may only 

be granted the benefits of the Convention if at least 90 percent of the shares or other 

beneficial interests in the German Investmentvermögen are owned directly or indirectly 

by German residents that are entitled to the benefits of this Convention under certain 

subparagraphs of paragraph 2 of this Article (i.e., subparagraphs (a), (b), (d) or (e) and 

clause aa) of paragraph (c)) or by persons that are equivalent beneficiaries with respect to 

the income derived by the German Investmentvermögen for which benefits are being 

claimed. For purposes of this paragraph, beneficiaries of entities that are subject to 

numbers 3 and 5 of paragraph 1 of section 1 of the German Corporate Tax Act shall be 

treated as indirectly owning shares of a German Investmentvermögen. Foundations 

referred to in number 5 of paragraph 1 of section 1 of the German Corporate Tax Act, 

other than those referred to in subparagraph d) of paragraph 2 of this Article shall not be 

take into account in determining whether a German Investmentvermögen meets the 90 

percent threshold. Paragraph 24 of Article XVI of the Protocol provides that the 

competent authorities will establish procedures for determining indirect ownership for 

purposes of determining whether the 90 percent ownership threshold of paragraph 6 is 

met and that it is anticipated that such procedures may include statistically valid sampling 

techniques. 

Paragraph 7 

Paragraph 7 provides that a resident of one of the Contracting States that is not 

entitled to the benefits of the Convention as a result of paragraphs 1 through 6 still may 

55
be granted benefits under the Convention at the discretion of the competent authority of 

the State from which benefits are claimed. In making determinations under paragraph 7, 

that competent authority will take into account as its guideline whether the establishment, 

acquisition, or maintenance of the person seeking benefits under the Convention, or the 

conduct of such person’s operations, has or had as one of its principal purposes the 

obtaining of benefits under the Convention. Benefits will not be granted, however, solely 

because a company was established prior to the effective date of a treaty or protocol. In 

that case a company would still be required to establish to the satisfaction of the 

Competent Authority clear non-tax business reasons for its formation in a Contracting 

State, or that the allowance of benefits would not otherwise be contrary to the purposes of 

the treaty. Thus, persons that establish operations in one of the States with a principal 

purpose of obtaining the benefits of the Convention ordinarily will not be granted relief 

under paragraph 7. 

The competent authority's discretion is quite broad. It may grant all of the 

benefits of the Convention to the taxpayer making the request, or it may grant only 

certain benefits. For instance, it may grant benefits only with respect to a particular item 

of income in a manner similar to paragraph 4. Further, the competent authority may 

establish conditions, such as setting time limits on the duration of any relief granted. 

For purposes of implementing paragraph 7, a taxpayer will be permitted to present 

his case to the relevant competent authority for an advance determination based on the 

facts. In these circumstances, it is also expected that, if the competent authority 

determines that benefits are to be allowed, they will be allowed retroactively to the time 

of entry into force of the relevant treaty provision or the establishment of the structure in 

question, whichever is later. Before denying benefits of the Convention under this 

paragraph, the competent authority will consult with the competent authority of the other 

Contracting State. 

Finally, there may be cases in which a resident of a Contracting State may apply 

for discretionary relief to the competent authority of his State of residence. This would 

arise, for example, if the benefit it is claiming is provided by the residence country, and 

not by the source country. So, for example, if a company that is a resident of the United 

States would like to claim the benefit of the re-sourcing rule of paragraph 2 of Article 23, 

but it does not meet any of the objective tests of this Article, it may apply to the U.S. 

competent authority for discretionary relief. 

Paragraph 8 

Paragraph 8 defines several key terms for purposes of Article 28. Each of the 

defined terms is discussed in the context in which it is used. 

Article XV 

Article XV of the Protocol updates several references in the Convention that have 

become outdated since the Euro has replaced the German mark as the currency of the 

Federal Republic of Germany. 

56
Article XVI 

Article XVI of the Protocol restates and updates the Protocol to the Convention. 

The following description of Article XVI only discusses the aspect of Article XVI that 

amends the Protocol to the Convention and that has not been described elsewhere in the 

technical explanation. Consequently, only paragraphs 21 and 23 of the Article are 

described below. 

Paragraph 21 

Paragraph 21 makes clear that paragraph 4 of Article 24 does not obligate a 

Contracting State to permit cross-border consolidation of income or similar benefits 

between enterprises. 

Paragraph 23 

Paragraph 23 makes clear that Article 26 (Exchange of Information and 

Administrative Assistance) provides the competent authority of each Contracting State 

the power to obtain and provide information held by financial institutions, nominees, or 

persons acting in an agency or fiduciary capacity (not including information that would 

reveal confidential communications between a client and an attorney, solicitor, or other 

legal representative, where the client seeks legal advice), or respecting interests in a 

person, including bearer shares, regardless of any laws or practices of the requested State 

that might otherwise preclude the obtaining of such information. Thus, such information 

must be provided to the requesting State notwithstanding the fact that disclosure of the 

information is precluded by bank secrecy or similar legislation relating to disclosure of 

financial information by financial institutions or intermediaries. 

Article XVII 

Article XVII of the Protocol contains the rules for bringing the Protocol into force 

and giving effect to its provisions. 

Paragraph 1 

Paragraph 1 provides for the ratification of the Convention by both Contracting 

States according to their constitutional and statutory requirements. Instruments of 

ratification shall be exchanged as soon as possible. 

In the United States, the process leading to ratification and entry into force is as 

follows: Once a treaty has been signed by authorized representatives of the two 

Contracting States, the Department of State sends the treaty to the President who formally 

transmits it to the Senate for its advice and consent to ratification, which requires 

approval by two-thirds of the Senators present and voting. Prior to this vote, however, it 

generally has been the practice for the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to hold 

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hearings on the treaty and make a recommendation regarding its approval to the full 

Senate. Both Government and private sector witnesses may testify at these hearings. 

After the Senate gives its advice and consent to ratification of the protocol or treaty, an 

instrument of ratification is drafted for the President's signature. The President's 

signature completes the process in the United States. 

Paragraph 2 

Paragraph 2 provides that the Protocol will enter into force upon the exchange of 

instruments of ratification. The date on which a Protocol enters into force is not 

necessarily the date on which its provisions take effect. Paragraph 2, therefore, also 

contains rules that determine when the provisions of the Protocol will have effect. 

Under subparagraph 2(a), the Protocol will have effect with respect to taxes 

withheld at source (principally dividends and interest) for amounts paid or credited on or 

after the first day of January of the year in which the Protocol enters into force. For 

example, if instruments of ratification are exchanged on April 25 of a given year, the 

withholding rates specified in paragraph 2 and 3 of Article 10 (Dividends) would be 

applicable to any dividends paid or credited on or after January 1 of that year. This rule 

allows the benefits of the withholding reductions to be put into effect for the entire year 

the Protocol enters into force. If a withholding agent withholds at a higher rate than that 

provided by the Protocol (e.g., for payments made before April 25 in the example above), 

a beneficial owner of the income that is a resident of the Federal Republic of Germany 

may make a claim for refund pursuant to section 1464 of the Code. 

Under subparagraph 2(b), the Protocol will have effect with respect to taxes other 

than those withheld at source for any taxable period beginning on or after January 1 of 

the year next following entry into force of the Protocol. With respect to taxes on capital, 

the Convention will have effect for taxes levied on items of capital owned on or after 

January 1 next following the entry into force of the Protocol. 

Paragraph 3 

Paragraph 3 provides two exceptions to the effective date rules of paragraph 2. 

The provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 1 (General Scope) will have effect after 

the entry into force of the Protocol and apply in respect of any tax claim irrespective of 

whether the tax claim pre-dates the entry into force of the Protocol (or the effective date 

of any of its provisions). In addition, paragraph 3 provides that the amendments made to 

Article 19 (Government Service) by Article X of the Protocol do not have effect with 

respect to individuals who at the time of the signing of the Convention on August 29, 

1989 were employed by the United States, a political subdivision or local authority 

thereof. 

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Paragraph 4 

Paragraph 4 provides a specific effective date for purposes of the binding 

arbitration provisions of Article 25 (Mutual Agreement Procedure) (Article XIII of the 

Protocol). Paragraph 4 provides that Article XIII of the Protocol is effective for cases (i) 

that are under consideration by the competent authorities as of the date on which the 

Protocol enters into force and (ii) cases that come under such consideration after the 

Protocol enters into force. In addition, paragraph 4 provides that the commencement 

date for cases that are under consideration by the competent authorities as of the date on 

which the Protocol enters into force is the date the Protocol enters into force. As a result, 

cases that are unresolved as of the entry into force of the Protocol will go into binding 

arbitration no later than two years after the entry into force of the Protocol, if the cases 

are not otherwise resolved through the competent authority procedure. Pursuant to 

clause c)aa) of paragraph 6 of Article 25, the competent authorities may agree to any 

earlier date. 

Paragraph 5 

As in many recent U.S. treaties, however, paragraph 5 also provides an additional 

exception to paragraph 2. Under paragraph 5, if the Convention as unmodified by the 

Protocol would have afforded any person that was entitled to benefits under the 

unmodified Convention greater relief from tax than under the Convention as modified by 

the Protocol, the unmodified Convention shall, at the election of such person, continue to 

have effect in its entirety for a 12-month period from the date on which the provisions of 

the Protocol would have otherwise had effect with respect to such person. 

Thus, a taxpayer who was entitled to benefits may elect to extend the benefits of 

the unmodified Convention for one year from the date on which the relevant provision of 

the modified Convention would first take effect. During the period in which the election 

is in effect, the provisions of the unmodified Convention will continue to apply only 

insofar as they applied before the entry into force of the Protocol. If the grace period is 

elected, all of the provisions of the unmodified Convention must be applied for that 

additional year. The taxpayer may not apply certain, more favorable provisions of the 

unmodified Convention and, at the same time, apply other, more favorable provisions of 

the modified Convention. The taxpayer must choose one regime or the other. 

For example, suppose the instruments of ratification are exchanged on April 1, 

2007 and the Protocol thus enters into force on that date. The Protocol would take effect 

with respect to taxes withheld at source for amounts paid or credited on or after January 

1, 2007. With respect to other income taxes, the Protocol would be applicable for 

taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2008. If the election is made, the 

provisions of the unmodified Convention would continue to have effect (i) regarding 

withholding, for amounts paid or credited at any time prior to January 1, 2008, and (ii) 

regarding other income taxes, for fiscal periods beginning before January 1, 2009; the 

provisions of the Protocol (including the rules of Article 28 (Limitation on Benefits)) 

would have effect (i) regarding withholding, for amounts paid or credited on or after 

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January 1, 2008, and (ii) regarding other income taxes, for fiscal periods beginning on or 

after January 1, 2009. 

Paragraph 6 

Paragraph 6 provides that the following notes exchanged with respect to the 

current Convention will cease to have effect when the provisions of the Protocol take 

effect in accord with this Article: (i) the notes exchanged on August 29, 1989 and (ii) the 

German note of November 3, 1989. 

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