Source: http://www.swisstaxnetwork.ch/gesetze/swiss-dta/article-22
Timestamp: 2018-10-20 21:08:07
Document Index: 86761914

Matched Legal Cases: ['Art. 22', 'Art. 22', 'Art. 22', 'Art. 22', 'Art. 22', 'Art. 24', 'Art. 22', 'Art. 22', 'Art. 22', 'Art. 22', 'Art. 22', 'Art. 21']

Article 22 (Capital) - swisstaxnetwork.ch
Article 22 (Capital)
< Article 21
1 Art. 22 OECD Model Tax Convention
2 Switzerland's non-exhaustive list of double taxation treaties based on Article 22 of the OECD Model
8 Article 22 and Commentary of the UN Model Double Taxation Convention between Developed and Developing Countries
9 Commentary on Article 22 of the OECD Model Tax Convention
Art. 22 OECD Model Tax Convention
Switzerland's non-exhaustive list of double taxation treaties based on Article 22 of the OECD Model
Country Corresponding to Art. 22 Deviations (this section is under construction)
Austria Art. 22 (German/French)
China Art. 22 (German/French/English)
France Art. 24 (German/French)
Germany Art. 22 (German/French)
India Art. 22 (German/French/English)
Italy Art. 22 (German/French/English)
Luxemburg Art. 22 (German/French/English)
Spain Art. 22 (German/French)
USA Art. 21 (German/French/English)
SRK TG vom 11.3./29.4.1998 (Nicht durch Vermögenserträge gedeckte Schuldzinsen)
Article 22 and Commentary of the UN Model Double Taxation Convention between Developed and Developing Countries
[4. All other elements of capital of a resident of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State.]
(The question of the taxation of all other elements of capital of a resident of a Contracting State is left to bilateral negotiations. Should the negotiating parties decide to include in the Convention an article on the taxation of capital, they will have to determine whether to use the wording of paragraph 4 as shown or wording that leaves taxation to the State in which the capital is located.)
"A. Commentary on the paragraphs of article 22
1. In the United Nations Model Convention, Article 22 deals with taxes on capital, to the exclusion of taxes on estates and inheritances and on gifts and of transfer duties.
2. The question whether paragraphs 1 to 4 should continue to be placed within brackets was examined by the former Group of Experts. There was general agreement that brackets are not required for the first three paragraphs but it was decided to retain them so far as paragraph 4 was concerned. There was a strong argument that the situs State would have the right to tax where the property was situated in that country; that would bring it into line with the treatment of the United Nations Model Convention of other income referred to in Article 21. In 1999, it was decided, to retain the brackets so far as paragraph 4 is concerned.
3. Should the negotiating parties decide to include an Article on the taxation of capital, they will have to determine whether to use the wording of paragraph 4 placed within brackets or wording that leaves taxation to the State in which the capital is located. If the wording of paragraph 4, placed within brackets, is used, the Committee considers that the OECD Commentary on Article 22, reproduced below, will be applicable.
1. This Article deals only with taxes on capital, to the exclusion of taxes on estates and inheritances and on gifts and of transfer duties. Taxes on capital to which the Article applies are those referred to in Article 2.
2. Taxes on capital generally constitute complementary taxation of income from capital. Consequently, taxes on a given element of capital can be levied, in principle, only by the State which is entitled to tax the income from this element of capital. However, it is not possible to refer purely and simply to the rules relating to the taxation of such class of income, for not all items of income are subject to taxation exclusively in one State.
3. The Article, therefore, enumerates first property which may be taxed in the State in which they are situated. To this category belong immovable property referred to in Article 6 which a resident of a Contracting State owns and which is situated in the other Contracting State (paragraph 1) and movable property forming part of the business property of a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State[, or pertaining to a fixed base which a resident of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State for the performance of independent personal services] (paragraph 2).
4. Normally, ships and aircraft operated in international traffic and boats engaged in inland waterways transport and movable property pertaining to the operation of such ships, boats or aircraft shall be taxable only in the State in which the place of effective management of the enterprise is situated (paragraph 3). This rule corresponds to the provisions of Article 8 and of paragraph 3 of Article 13. It is understood that paragraph 3 of Article 8 is applicable if the place of effective management of a shipping enterprise or of an inland waterways transport enterprise is aboard a ship or boat. Contracting States which would prefer to confer the exclusive taxing right on the State of residence or to use a combination of the residence criterion and the place of effective management criterion are free in bilateral conventions to substitute for paragraph 3 a provision corresponding to those proposed in paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Commentary on Article 8. Immovable property pertaining to the operation of ships, boats or aircraft may be taxed in the State in which they are situated in accordance with the rule laid down in paragraph 1.
4.1 Paragraph 3 applies where the enterprise that owns the property operates itself the boats, ships or aircraft referred to in the paragraph, whether for its own transportation activities or when leasing the boats, ships or aircraft on charter fully equipped, manned and supplied. It does not apply, however, where the enterprise owning the boats, ships or aircraft does not operate them (for example, where the enterprise leases the property to another person, other than in the case of an occasional bare boat lease […]). In such a case, the capital will be covered by paragraph 2 or 4.
4.2 In their bilateral conventions, member countries are free to clarify further the application of Article 22 in this situation. They might adopt the following alternative version of paragraph 3 of the Article […]:
3. Capital represented by property forming part of the business property of an enterprise the place of effective management of which is situated in a Contracting State, and consisting of ships and aircraft operated by such enterprise in international traffic and of movable property pertaining to the operation of such ships and aircraft shall be taxable only in that State.
5. As regards elements of capital other than those listed in paragraphs 1 to 3, the Article provides that they are taxable only in the Contracting State of which the person to whom they belong is a resident (paragraph 4).
6. If, when the provisions of paragraph 4 are applied to elements of movable property under usufruct, double taxation subsists because of the disparity between domestic laws, the States concerned may resort to the mutual agreement procedure or settle the question by means of bilateral negotiations.
7. The Article does not provide any rule about the deductions of debts. The laws of OECD member countries are too different to allow a common solution for such a deduction. The problem of the deduction of debts which could arise when the taxpayer and the creditor are not residents of the same State is dealt with in paragraph 4 of Article 24."
Commentary on Article 22 of the OECD Model Tax Convention
"1. This Article deals only with taxes on capital, to the exclusion of taxes on estates and inheritances and on gifts and of transfer duties. Taxes on capital to which the Article applies are those referred to in Article 2.
3. The Article, therefore, enumerates first property which may be taxed in the State in which they are situated. To this category belong immovable property referred to in Article 6 which a resident of a Contracting State owns and which is situated in the other Contracting State (paragraph 1) and movable property forming part of the business property of a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State (paragraph 2).
3.1 For the purposes of paragraph 2, property will form part of the business property of a permanent establishment if the “economic” ownership of the property is allocated to that permanent establishment under the principles developed in the Committee’s report entitled Attribution of Profits to Permanent Establishments [1 Attribution of Profits to Permanent Establishments, OECD, Paris, 2010] (see in particular paragraphs 72 to 97 of Part I of the report) for the purposes of the application of paragraph 2 of Article 7. In the context of that paragraph, the “economic” ownership of property means the equivalent of ownership for income tax purposes by a separate enterprise, with the attendant benefits and burdens (e.g. the right to any income attributable to the ownership of that property, the right to any available depreciation and the potential exposure to gains or losses from the appreciation or depreciation of that property). The mere fact that the property has been recorded, for accounting purposes, on a balance sheet prepared for the permanent establishment will therefore not be sufficient to conclude that it is effectively connected with that permanent establishment.
3.2 In the case of the permanent establishment of an enterprise carrying on insurance activities, the determination of whether property will form part of the business property of the permanent establishment shall be made by giving due regard to the guidance set forth in Part IV of the Committee’s report with respect to whether the income on or gain from that property is taken into account in determining the permanent establishment’s yield on the amount of investment assets attributed to it (see in particular paragraphs 165 to 170 of Part IV). That guidance being general in nature, tax authorities should consider applying a flexible and pragmatic approach which would take into account an enterprise’s reasonable and consistent application of that guidance for purposes of identifying the specific assets that form part of the business property of the permanent establishment.
4.1 Paragraph 3 applies where the enterprise that owns the property operates itself the boats, ships or aircraft referred to in the paragraph, whether for its own transportation activities or when leasing the boats, ships or aircraft on charter fully equipped, manned and supplied. It does not apply, however, where the enterprise owning the boats, ships or aircraft does not operate them (for example, where the enterprise leases the property to another person, other than in the case of an occasional bare boat lease as referred to in paragraph 5 of the Commentary on Article 8). In such a case, the capital will be covered by paragraph 2 or 4.
4.2 In their bilateral conventions, member countries are free to clarify further the application of Article 22 in this situation. They might adopt the following alternative version of paragraph 3 of the Article (see also paragraphs 28.1 and 28.2 of the Commentary on Article 13):
7. The Article does not provide any rule about the deductions of debts. The laws of OECD member countries are too different to allow a common solution for such a deduction. The problem of the deduction of debts which could arise when the taxpayer and the creditor are not residents of the same State is dealt with in paragraph 4 of Article 24.
8. [Renumbered]
9. Finland reserves the right to tax shares or other corporate rights in Finnish companies, where the ownership of such shares or other corporate rights entitles to the enjoyment of immovable property situated in Finland and held by the company.
10. New Zealand, Portugal and Turkey reserve their positions on this Article if and when they impose taxes on capital.
11. France can accept the provisions of paragraph 4 but wishes to retain the possibility of applying the provisions of its law relative to the taxation of shares or rights which are part of a substantial participation in a company which is a resident of France, or of shares or rights of companies the assets of which consist mainly of immovable property situated in France.
12. Denmark, Norway and Sweden reserve the right to insert special provisions regarding capital represented by aircraft operated in international traffic, when owned by the air transport consortium Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS).
13. Spain reserves its right to tax capital represented by shares or other rights in a company whose assets consist mainly of immovable property situated in Spain, by shares or other corporate rights which entitle its owner to a right of enjoyment of immovable property situated in Spain or by shares or other rights constituting a substantial participation in a company which is a resident of Spain.
14. In view of its particular situation in relation to shipping, Greece will retain its freedom of action with regard to the provisions in the Convention relating to capital represented by ships in international traffic and by movable property pertaining to the operation of such ships."
Subpages (1): SRK TG vom 11.3./29.4.1998 (Nicht durch Vermögenserträge gedeckte Schuldzinsen)