tiea agreement between belize and portugal

8/7/2019 TIEA agreement between Belize and Portugal

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AGREEMENT BETWEEN BELIZE AND THEPORTUGUESE REPUBLIC FOR THE EXCHANGE OF

INFORMATION RELATING TO TAX MATTERS

Belize and The POltuguese Republic here in after referred to as "Palties",Desiring to facilitate the exchange of information with respect to taxesHave agreed as follows:

Article 1SCOPE OF THE AGREEMENT

The competent authorities of the Parties shall provide assistance through exchange ofinformation upon request as set forth in this Agreement. Such information shall:a) Be foreseeably relevant to the administration and cnforcement of the

domestic laws of the Requesting Party concerning taxes covered by thisAgreement;

b) [nclude information that is foreseeably relevant to the determination ,assessment and collection of such taxes, the recovery and en forcement oftax c1aims, or the investigation or prosecution of criminal tax matters; and

c) Be treated as confidential as set forth in this Agreement.


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Article 2JURISDICTION

A requested Party is not obligated to provide information which is neither held by itsauthoriti es nor in the possession of or obtainable by persons who are within its territorialjurisdiction.

Article 3TAXES COVERED

1. This Agreement shall apply to the following taxes:a) In respect of Portuga l:

i. Personal income tax (Imposto sob re 0 Rendimento das Pe ssoas Singulares -IRS);

ii. Corporate income tax (Imposto so bre 0 Rendimento das Pessoas Colectivas- IRC) ;

iii. Local sUltax on corporate income tax (Derrama);iv. Stamp duty on gratuitous transfers (Imposto do Selo sobre as transmissesgratuitas).

b) ln respect of Be lize :i. The income tax (including surtax or surcharge);ii. The business tax;iii. The general sales tax.

2. This Agreement shall apply also to any identical or substantially similar taxes that areimposed after the date of signature of the Agreement in addition to or in place of theexisting taxes if the Parties so agree. The competent authorities of the Parties shall notifyeach other of any substantial changes to the taxation and related information gatheringmeasures covered by the Agreement.

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Article 4DEFINITIONS

1. For the purposes ofthis Agreement, unIess otherwise defined:a) The term "PoltugaI" wh en used in a geographicaI sense comprises the territory

of the Portuguese RepubIic in accordance with the [nternational Law and thePortuguese Legislation;

b) The term "Belize" means the land and sea areas as defined in Schedule 1 to theBelize Constitution, including the territorial waters and any other area in th e seaand in the air within which Belize, in accordance with the international law,exercises sovereign rights or its jurisdiction;

c) "Competent authority" means:(i) [n respect of Portugal, the Minister of Finance, the Director General of

Taxation (Director-Geral dos Imp ostos) or their authorized representative;(ii) In respect of Belize, the Minister of Finance or hi s authori sed representative;

d) "Person" includes an individual, a company and any other body of persons,e) "Company" means any body corporate or any ent ity that is treated as a body

corporate for tax purposes ,f) "Publicly-traded company" means any company whose principal c1 ass of shares

is Iisted on a recognised stock exchange provided its listed shares can be readilypurchased or so ld by the public. Shares can be purchased or so ld "by thepublic" if the purchase or sale of shares is not implicitly or explicitly restrictedto a limited group of investors,

g) "Principal class of shares" means the class or classes of shares representing amajority of the voti ng power and va lue of th e company,

h) "Recogni sed stock exchange" means any stock cxchange agreed upon by thecompetent authorities of the Parties,

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i) "Collective investment fund or scheme" means any pooled investment vehicle,irrespective of legal form . The term "public collective investment fund orscheme" means any collective investment fund or scheme provided the units,shares or other interests in the fund or scheme can be readily purchased, so ld orredeemed by the public. Units, shares or other interests in the fund or schemecan be readily purchased, so ld or redeemed "by the public" if the purchase, sa leor redemption is not implicitly or explicitly restricted to a limited group ofinvestors,

j) "Tax" means any tax to which the Agreement app lies,k) "Requesting Party" means the Party requesting information,1) "Requested Party" means the Party requested to provide information,m) " lnformation-gathering measures" means laws and administrative or judicial

procedures that enable a Party to obtain and provide the requested information ,n) "Information" means any fact, statement, document or record in any form

whatever,0) "Tax matters" means ail tax matters including criminal tax matters,p) "C ri minai tax matters" means tax matters invo lving intentional conduct wh ether

before or after the entry into force of this Agreement which is liable toprosecution under the criminallaws of the request ing Party,

q) "C ri minai laws" means ail criminal laws designated as such under therespective law of the Parties irrespective of whether such are contained in thetax laws, the criminal code or other statutes.

2. Any term not defined in this Agreement sha ll , unless the context otherwise requires,have the meaning that it has at the time the request was made under the law of that Party,any meaning under the applicable tax laws ofthat Party prevailing over a meaning given tothe term under other laws ofthat Party.

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Article 5EXC HA NGE OF INFORMATION UPON REQUEST

1. The competent authority of the requested Party shall provide upon request by therequesting Party information for the purposes referred to in Article 1. Such informationshall be provided without regard to whether the requested Party needs such information forits own tax pUl'P0ses or the conduct being investigated would constitute a crime under thelaws of the requested Party if it had occurred in the territory of the requested Party. Thecompetent authority of the requesting Party shall only make a request for informationpursuant to this Article when it is unable to obtain the requested information by othermeans in its own territory, ex cept where recourse to such means would give rise todisproportionate difficulty.2. [fthe information in the possession of the competent authority of the requested Partyis not sufficient to enable it to comply with the request for information, that Party shall useat its own di scretion ail applicable information gathering measures necessary to provide therequesting Party with the information requested, notwithstanding that the requested Partymay not, at that time, need such information for its own tax purposes.3. If specifically requested by the competent authority of th e requesting Party, thecompetent authority of the requested Party shall provide information under this Article, tothe extent allowable under its laws, in the fonn of depositions of witnesses andauthenticated copies of original records.4. Each Party shall ensure that its competent authoriti es, in accordance with the tenn s ofthi s Agreement have the authority to obtain and provide upon request:

a) Information held by banks, other financial institutions, and any person,including nominees and trustees, acting in an agency or fiduciarycapacity; and

b) Information regarding the beneficial ownership of companies,partnerships and other persons, including in the case of collectiveinvestment funds and schemes, information on shares, units and otherinterests; in the case of trusts, information on settlors, trustees, protectorsand beneficiaries; and in the case of foundations, information onfounders, members of the foundation council and beneficia ries,

provided that this Agreement does not create an obligation on the Parties to obtain orprovide ownership information with re spect to publicly traded companies or publiccollective investment funds or schemes unless such information can be obtainedwithout giving ri se to disproportionate difficulties.

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5. Any request for information shall be formulated with the greatest detail possible andshall specify in writin g:

a) The identity of the person under examination or investigation ,b) The period for which the information is requested,c) The nature of the information sought and the fonn in which the requesting Party

would prefer to receive it ,d) The tax purpose for which the information is sought,e) The reasons for believing that the information requested is foreseeab ly relevantto the tax administration and en forcement of the tax law of the request ing Patty,

with respect to the person identified in subparagraph a) ofthis paragraph,f) Grounds for believing that the information requested is held in the requested

Party or is in the possession of or obtainable by a person within the jurisd ictionof the requested Patty,

g) To the extent known, the name and address of any pers on believed to be tnpossession of the requested information,

h) A statement that the request is in conformity with the laws and admin istrativepractices of the requesting Party, that if the requested information was withinthe jurisdiction of the requesting Party then the competent authority of therequesting Party would be able to obtain the information under the laws of therequesting Party or in the normal course of administrative practice and that it isin confonnity with this Agreement,

i) A statement that the requesting Party has pursued ail means available in its ownterr itory to obtain the in formation , except those that wou ld give rise todisproportionate difficulties.

6. The competent authority of the requested Party shall acknowledge receipt of therequest to the competent authority of the requesting Party and shall use its best endeavoursto forwa rd the requested information to the requesting Party with the least reasonable delay.

Article 6TAX EXAMINATIO NS ABROAD

1. By reasonable notice given in advance, the request ing Party may request that therequested Party allow representatives of the competent authority of the requesting Party toenter the territory of the requested Party, to the extent permitted under its laws, to interview

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individua ls and examine records with the prior wr itten consent of the individuals or otherpersons concerned. The co mpetent authority of the requesting Party shall notify thecompetent authority of the requested Party of the t im e and place of the intended meetingwith the individuals concerned.2. At the request of the competent author ity of the requesting Party, the competentauthority of the requested Party may allow representatives of the competent authority of therequesti ng Party to be present at the appropriate part of a tax examination in the requestedParty.3. 1f the request referred to in paragraph 2 is acceded to, the competent authority of therequested Party conducting the exam ination shall , as soon as possible, not ify the competentallthority of the requesting Party about the time and place of the examination, the authorityor official designated to carry out the examination and the procedures and cond itionsrequired by the requested Party for the conduct of the examination. A li decisions wi thre spect to the conduct of the tax examination sha ll be made by the reqllested Partyconducting the exam inat ion.

Alticle 7POSSIBILITY OF DEC LINING A REQU EST1. The competent authority of the requested Party may dec line to assist:

a) Where the reque st is not made in conformity w ith thi s Ag reement;b) Where the request ing Party has not pursued a il means ava ilable in its own

territory to obtain the information, except where recourse to such means wOli ldgive ri se to disproportionate difficulty; or

c) Where the di sc losure of the information requested would be contrary to thepublic policy of the requested Party.

2. This Agreement shall not impose upon a requested Party any ob ligat ion:a) To provide items subject to legal privilege, or any trade, business, indllstrial,

commercial or profess ional secret or trade process, provided that informationdescribed in paragraph 4 of Article 5 sha ll not by reason of that fact alone betreated as such a secret or trade process; or

b) To carry out admin istrative measures at va riance with its laws andadministrati ve practices, provided that noth ing in this subparagraph shall affectthe obligations of a Party under paragraph 4 of Article 5.

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3. A request for information shall not be refused on the ground that the tax c1aim givingri se to the request is disputed.4. The requested Party shall not be required to obtai n and provide in formation which therequesting Party would be unable to obtain in similar circumstances under its own laws forthe purpose of the administration or enforcement of its own tax laws or in re sponse to avalid request from the requested Patty under thi s Agreement.5. The requested Pa tty may decline a request for information if the information isrequested by the request ing Party to admini ster or enforce a provision of the tax law of therequestin g Party, or any requirement connected therewith, which discriminates against acitizen or a national of the requested Party as compared with a citizen or a national of therequesting Party in the same circumstances.

Article 8CONFIDENTIALITY AND DATA PROTECTION

1. Ali in formation provided and received by the competent author ities of the Partiesshall be kept confidential.2. Such information shall be disclosed only to persons or authorities (i ncluding courtsand admini strative bodies) concerned with the purposes specified in Art icle 1, and used bysuch persons or authorities only for such purposes, including the determination of anyappea l. For these pUt'poses information may be di sclosed in public co urt proceedings or injudicial deci sions.3. Such information may not be used for any pUt-po se other than for the purposes statedin Article 1 without the expressed wr itten consent of the competent authority of therequested Party.4. The in formation provided to a requesting Party under this Agreement may not bedisclosed to any other jurisdiction.5. Personal data may be transmitted to the extent necessary for carrying out theprovisions of this Agreement and subject to the provisions of the law of the supplyin gParty.6. ln case of exchange of information in re spect of an ident itied or identifiableindividual, the provisions of Chapter 6, in particular the Article 199 of the EconomicPartnership Agreement of 15 October, 2008 between the Cari forum States and theEuropean Commun ity and its Member States shall be applied according ly.

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Article 9COSTS

Incidence of costs incurred in providing assistance shaH be agreed by the Parties.

Article 10IMPLEMENTATIO N LEGISLATIONThe Parties shaH enact any legislation necessary to comply with, and give effect to , thetenns of this Agreement.

Article I lMUTUAL AGREEMENT PROC EDURE1. Where difficu lties or doubts arise between the Parties regarding the implementationor interpretation of the Agreement, the competent authorities shaH endeavour to reso lve thematter by mutual agreement.2. In addition to the agreements refe rred to in paragraph 1, the competent authorities ofthe Parties may mutuaH y agree on the procedures to be used under Articles 5 and 6.3. The competent authorities of the Parties may communicate with each other directl yfor purposes of reaching agreement under this At1icle.4. The Parties shaH agree on procedures for di spute re solution should this becomenecessary.

Article 12ENTRY fNTO FORCE

1. Thi s Agreement shaH enter into force thirty days from the date on which the Partieshave notified each other that their respective requirements for the entry into force of thisAgreement have been fulfiHed . The relevant date shaH be the day on which the lastnotification is received.

2. Upon the date of entry into force, this Agreement shaH have effect:a) For criminal tax matters on that date; andb) For aH other matters covered in At1 icle 1 on that date, but on ly in respect of taxableperiods beginning on or after that date or, where there is no taxable period, aH charges totax ar ising on or after that date.

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Article 13DURATlON AND TERMINATlON

1. The present Agreement sha ll remain in force for an unlimited period oftime.2. Either Party may, at any time, terminate the present Agreement upon a priornotification by giving written notice of termination to the other Party.3. The present Agreement sha ll terminate six months after the receipt of suchnotification.4. Notwithstanding the tennination, the Parties shall remain bound to the provisions ofArt icle 8 of the present Agreement.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned being duly aut horised in that behalf by therespective Parties, have signed the Agreement.

DONE at London on the 22nd day of October of 20 10 , in duplicate, in the Engl ish andPortuguese languages, both texts being equa lly authentic .

FOR BELIZE:

KAMELA PALMAHigh Commissioner for Belizein the United Kingdom

FOR THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLlC:

SRGlO TA VARES VASQUESSecreta l'y of State of the Fiscal A ffairs

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tiea agreement between belize and portugal

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