tiea agreement between aruba and bermuda

8/3/2019 TIEA agreement between Aruba and Bermuda

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AGREEMENT

BETWEEN

THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS, IN RESPECT OF ARUBA,

AND

BERMUDA(AS AUTHORISED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF

THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND)

and

FOR

THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES

The Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in respect of Aruba,

the Government of Bermuda (as authorised by the Government of theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)

DESIRING to facilitate the exchange of information with respect to taxes,

Have agreed as follows:

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Article 1Object and scope of the Agreement

1. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall provideassistance through exchange of information that is relevant to the administrationand enforcement of the domestic laws of the Contracting Parties concerningtaxes covered by this Agreement.

Such information shall include information that is relevant to the determination, assessment and collection of such taxes, the recovery and enforcementof tax claims, or the investigation or prosecution of tax matters. Information shallbe exchanged in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement and shall betreated as confidential in the manner provided in Article 8.

The rights and safeguards secured to persons by the laws oradministrative practices of the requested Party remain applicable.

The rights and safeguards shall not be applied by the requested Party in amanner that unduly prevents or delays effective exchange of information.

2. As regards the Kingdom of the Netherlands, this Agreement shallapply only to Aruba.

Article 2Jurisdiction

A requested Party is not obligated to provide information which is neitherheld by its authorities nor in the possession or control of persons who are withinits territorial jurisdiction.

Parties:

Article 3Taxes covered

1. This Agreement shall apply to the following taxes imposed by the

a) in the case of Aruba:

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b)

(i) Income tax (Inkomstenbelasting);(ii) Wage tax (Loonbelasting);(iii) Profit tax (Winstbelasting);(iv) Dividen withholding tax (Dividendbelasting);(v) Succession tax (Successiebelasting);(vi) Tum over tax (Omzetbelasting);in the case of Bermuda:The existing taxes which are the subject of this Agreementare direct taxes of every kind and description.

2. This Agreement shall also apply to any identical or substantiallysimilar taxes imposed after the date of signature of the Agreement in addition toor in place of the existing taxes. The competent authorities of the ContractingParties shall notify each other of any substantial changes to the taxation andrelated information gathering measures covered by this Agreement. Furthermore,the taxes covered may be expanded or modified by mutual agreement of theContracting Parties in the form of exchange of letters.

Article 4Definitions

1. For the purposes of this Agreement, unless otherwise defined:a) the term "Contracting Party" means the Kingdom of the

Netherlands, in respect of Aruba, or Bermuda as thecontext requires;

b) the term "Aruba" means that part of the Kingdom of theNetherlands that is situated in the Caribbean area andconsisting of the Island Aruba;

c)

d)

the term "Bermuda" means the Islands of Bermudaincluding the territorial sea adjacent to those islands, inaccordance with intemationallaw;the term "collective investment fund or scheme" means anypooled investment vehicle, irrespective of legal form. Theterm "public collective investment fund or scheme" means

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e)

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any collective investment fund or scheme provided theunits, shares or other interests in the fund or scheme canbe readily purchased, sold or redeemed by the public.Units, shares or other interests in the fund or scheme canbe readily purchased, sold or redeemed "by the public" ifthe purchase, sale or redemption is not implicitly orexplicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;the term "company" means any body corporate or anyentity that is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes;

f) the term "competent authority" means:i) in the case of Aruba, the Minister of Finance and

ii)

Economic Affairs or his authorised representative;andin the case of Bermuda, the Minister of Finance oran authorised representative of the Minister;

g) the term "criminal tax matters" means tax matters involvingintentional conduct which is liable to prosecution under thecriminal laws of the applicant Party with the inclusion ofadministrative fines;

h) the term "criminal laws" means all criminal laws designatedas such under domestic law irrespective of whethercontained in the tax laws, the criminal code or otherstatutes;

i) the term "information" means any fact, statement or recordin any form whatever;

j) the term "information gathering measures" means laws andadministrative or judicial procedures that enable aContracting Party to obtain and provide the requestedinformation;

(k) the term "national" means:(i) in the case of Aruba, an individual who has the

Dutch nationality and who is registered as aresident in Aruba, provided however that, if anindividual is not present in Aruba, he must havebeen born in Aruba, and any legal person,

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partnership or association deriving its status assuch from the laws in force in Aruba; and

(ii) in the case of Bermuda, any individual, legalperson, partnership, company, state, association orother entity deriving its status as such from the lawsin force in Bermuda;

I) the term "person" includes an individual, a company andany other body of persons;

m) the term "principal class of shares" means the class orclasses of shares representing a majority of the votingpower and value of the company;

n) the term "publicly traded company" means any companywhose principal class of shares is listed on a recognisedstock exchange provided its listed shares can be readilypurchased or sold by the public. Shares can be purchasedor sold "by the public" if the purchase or sale of shares isnot implicitly or explicitly restricted to a limited group ofinvestors;

0) the term "recognised stock exchange" means any stockexchange agreed upon by the competent authorities of theContracting Parties;p) the term "applicant Party" means the Contracting Partyrequesting information;

q) the term "requested Party" means the Contracting Partyrequested to provide information;

r) the term "tax" means any tax to which the Agreementapplies.

2. The term "relevant" wherever used in the Agreement with respectto information, shall be interpreted in a manner that ensures that information willbe considered relevant notwithstanding that a definite assessment of thepertinence of the information to an on-going investigation could only be madefollowing the receipt of the information.

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3. As regards the application of this Agreement at any time by aContracting Party, any term not defined therein shall , unless the contextotherwise requires, have the meaning that it has at that time under the law of thatParty, any meaning under the applicable tax laws of that Party prevailing over ameaning given to the term under other laws of that Party.

4. The Commentary to the Organisation for Economic Co-operationand Development (OECD) Model Agreement on Exchange of Information on TaxMatters shall apply to the interpretation of this Agreement where this Agreementis in conformity with the OECD Model Agreement on Exchange of Information onTax Matters.

Article 5Exchange of nformation upon request

1. The competent authority of the requested Party shall provide uponrequest information for the purposes referred to in Article 1. Such informationshall be exchanged without regard to whether the conduct being investigatedwould constitute a crime under the laws of the requested Party if such conductoccurred in the requested Party.

2. If the information in the possession of the competent authority ofthe requested Party is not sufficient to enable it to comply with the request forinformation, the requested Party shall use all relevant information gatheringmeasures to provide the applicant Party with the information requested,notwithstanding that the requested Party may not need such information for itsown tax purposes.

3. If specifically requested by the competent authority of the applicantParty, the competent authority of the requested Party shall provide informationunder this Article, to the extent allowable under its domestic laws , in the form ofdepositions of witnesses and authenticated copies of original records.

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4. Each Contracting Party shall ensure that its competent authority,for the purposes of this Agreement, has the authority to obtain and provide uponrequest: a) information held by banks, other financial institutions, and

any person, including nominees and trustees, acting in anagency or fiduciary capacity;

b) information regarding the legal and beneficial ownership ofcompanies, partnerships, foundations, "Anstaltenn andother persons, including, within the constraints of Article 2,ownership information on all such persons in an ownershipchain; in the case of trusts, information on settlors,trustees, beneficiaries and the position in an ownershipchain; in the case of foundations, information on founders,members of the foundation council and beneficiaries.

5. This Agreement does not create an obligation on the ContractingParties to obtain or provide:

(i) ownership information with respect to publiclytraded companies or public collective investmentfunds or schemes unless such information can beobtained without giving rise to disproportionatedifficulties;

(ii) information relating to a period more than six yearsprior to the tax period under consideration;

(iii) information, unless the applicant Party has pursuedall means available in its own territory to obtain theinformation, except those that would give rise todisproportionate difficulties;

(iv) information in the possession or control of a personother than the taxpayer that does not directly relateto the taxpayer.

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6. Where the applicant Party requests information in accordance withthis Agreement, a senior official of the competent authority of the applicant Partyshall certify that the request is relevant to, and necessary for, the determination ofthe tax liability of the taxpayer under the laws of the applicant Party.

7. The competent authority of the applicant Party shall provide thefollowing information to the competent authority of the requested Party whenmaking a request for information under this Agreement to demonstrate therelevance of the information sought to the request:

a) the identity of the taxpayer under examination orinvestigation;

b) grounds for believing that the information requested is inthe possession or control of a person subject to thejurisdiction of the requested Party;

c) to the extent known, the name and address of any personbelieved to be in possession or control of the informationrequested;

d) a statement that the request conforms to the law andadministrative practice of the applicant Party and would beobtainable by the applicant Party under its laws in similarcircumstances, both for its own tax purposes and inresponse to a valid request from the requested Party underthis Agreement;

e) a statement that the applicant Party has pursued all meansavailable in its own territory to obtain the information,except those that would give rise to disproportionatedifficulties;

and, to the fullest extent possible:

f) the nature and type of the information requested, includinga description of the specific evidence, information or otherassistance sought and the form, in which the applicantParty prefers to receive the information;

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g) the tax purposes for which the information is sought andwhy it is relevant to the determination of the tax liability of ataxpayer under the laws of the applicant Party;

h) the period of time with respect to which the information isrequired for the tax purposes.

8. The competent authority of the requested Party shall forward therequested information as promptly as possible to the applicant Party. To ensure aprompt response, the competent authority of the requested Party shall:

a) confirm receipt of a request in writing to the competentauthority of the applicant Party and shall notify thecompetent authority of the applicant Party of deficiencies inthe request, if any, within 60 days of the receipt of therequest;

b) if the competent authority of the requested Party has beenunable to obtain and provide the information within 90 daysof receipt of the request, including if it encountersobstacles in furnishing the information or it refuses tofurnish the information, it shall immediately inform theapplicant Party, explaining the reason for its inability, thenature of the obstacles or the reasons for its refusal.

Article 6Tax examinations abroad

1. The requested Party may allow, to the extent permitted under itsdomestic law, representatives of the competent authority of the applicant Party toenter the territory of the applicant Party to interview individuals and examinerecords with the written consent of the persons concerned. The competentauthority of the applicant Party shall notify the competent authority of therequested Party of the time and place of the meeting with the individualsconcerned.


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II2. At the request of the competent authority of the applicant Party,

the competent authority of the requested Party may allow representatives of thecompetent authority of the applicant Party to be present at the appropriate part ofa tax examination in the requested Party.

3. If the request referred to in paragraph 2 is acceded to, thecompetent authority of the requested Party conducting the examination shall, assoon as possible, notify the competent authority of the applicant Party about thetime and place of the examination, the authority or official designated to carry outthe examination and the procedures and conditions required by the requestedParty for the conduct of the examination. All decisions with respect to the conductof the tax examination shall be made by the requested Party conducting theexamination.

Article 7Possibility of declining a request

1. The competent authority of the requested Party may decline toassist where:

a) the request is not made in conformity with this Agreement;b) the applicant Party would not be able to obtain theinformation(i) under its own laws for purposes of administration or

enforcement of its own tax laws; or(ii) in response to a valid request from the requested

Party under this Agreement.

2. The provisions of this Agreement shall not impose on aContracting Party the obligation to supply information which would disclose anytrade, business, industrial, commercial or professional secret or trade process.Notwithstanding the foregoing, information of the type referred to in paragraph 4of Article 5 shall not be treated as such a secret or trade process merely becauseit meets the criteria in that paragraph.

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3. The provisions of this Agreement shall not impose on aContracting Party the obligation to obtain or provide information, which wouldreveal confidential communications between a client and an attorney, solicitor orother admitted legal representative where such communications are subject tolegal professional privilege under the laws in force in the requested Party.

4. The requested Party may decline a request for information if thedisclosure of the information would be contrary to public policy (ordre public).

5. A request for information shall not be refused on the ground thatthe tax claim giving rise to the request is disputed.

6. The requested Party may decline a request for information if theinformation is requested by the applicant Party to administer or enforce aprovision of the tax law of the applicant Party, or any requirement connected

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therewith, which discriminates against a national of the requested Party ascompared with a national of the applicant Party in the same circumstances.

Article 8Confidentiality

Any information received by a Contracting Party under this Agreementshall be treated as confidential and may be disclosed only to persons orauthorities (including courts and administrative bodies) in the jurisdiction of theContracting Party concerned with the assessment or collection of, theenforcement or prosecution in respect of, or the determination of appeals inrelation to, the taxes covered by this Agreement. Such persons or authoritiesshall use such information only for such purposes. They may disclose theinformation in public court proceedings or in judicial decisions. The informationmay not be disclosed to any other person or entity or authority or any otherjurisdiction without the express written consent of the competent authority of therequested Party.

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Article 9Costs

Incidence of costs incurred in providing assistance (includingreasonable costs of third parties and external advisors in connection withlitigation or otherwise) shall be agreed by the competent authorities of theContracting Parties.

Article 10Implementation legislation

The Contracting Parties shall enact any legislation necessary to complywith, and give effect to, the terms of the Agreement.

English.

Article 11Language

Requests for assistance and answers thereto shall be drawn up in

Article 12Mutual agreement procedure

1. Where difficulties or doubts arise between the Contracting Partiesregarding the implementation or interpretation of the Convention, the competentauthorities shall endeavour to resolve the matter by mutual agreement.

2. In addition to the agreements referred to in paragraph 1, thecompetent authorities of the Contracting Parties may mutually agree on theprocedures to be used under Articles 5 and 6.

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3. The Contracting Parties shall agree on other forms of disputeresolution should this become necessary.

Article 13Entry into force

This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second monthafter the later of the dates on which each of the Contracting Parties has notifiedthe other in writing that the formalities constitutionally or otherwise required intheir respective Party have been complied with. Upon the date of entry into force,it shall have effect:

a) for criminal tax matters on that date; andb) for all other matters covered in Article 1 on that

date; however, no earlier than January 1 t, 2010,but only in respect of taxable periods beginning onor after that date or, where there is no taxableperiod, all charges to tax arising on or after thatdate.

Article 14Termination

1. This Agreement shall remain in force until terminated by one of theContracting Parties. Either Contracting Party may, after the expiration of threeyears from the date of its entry into force, terminate the Agreement, throughdiplomatic channels, by giving notice of termination to the other ContractingParty.

2. Such termination shall become effective on the first day of themonth following the expiration of a period of six months after the date of receipt ofnotice of termination by the other Contracting Party. Nevertheless, all requestsreceived before the effective date of termination shall be dealt with in accordancewith this Agreement.

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3. In the event of termination, both Contracting Parties shall remainbound by the provisions of Article 8 with respect to any information obtainedunder the Agreement.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorisedthereto by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement.

I . DONE at (;yanJe:>fad ,this 02 nd day of Odobele- 2009,/ II and at ,this .2D +-h day of O c b ~ r 2009, in

duplicate, in the English language.I

,I I OR THE KINGDOM OF FOR BERMUDA:I I THE NETHERLANDS,I IN RESPECT OF ARUBA:,

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I,

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tiea agreement between aruba and bermuda

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