Australian Tax Treaties

United States Convention  

United States Protocol (No 1)  

ARTICLE 6  
Article 10 of the Convention is omitted and the following Article is substituted:

" ARTICLE 10 Dividends  

(1)
Dividends paid by a company which is a resident of one of the Contracting States for the purposes of its tax, being dividends to which a resident of the other Contracting State is beneficially entitled, may be taxed in that other State.

(2)
However, those dividends may also be taxed in the Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident for the purposes of its tax, and according to the law of that State, but:

(a) the tax charged shall not exceed 5 percent of the gross amount of the dividends, if the person beneficially entitled to those dividends is a company which holds directly at least 10 percent of the voting power in the company paying the dividends; and

(b) the tax charged shall not exceed 15 percent of the gross amount of the dividends to the extent to which those dividends are not within sub-paragraph (a),

provided that if the relevant law in either Contracting State is varied after the effective date of this provision otherwise than in minor respects so as not to affect its general character, the Contracting States shall consult each other with a view to agreeing to any amendment of this paragraph that may be appropriate.

(3)
Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (2), dividends shall not be taxed in the Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident if the person who is beneficially entitled to the dividends is a company that is a resident of the other Contracting State that has owned shares representing 80 percent or more of the voting power of the company paying the dividends for a 12-month period ending on the date the dividend is declared and:

(a) is a qualified person by reason of sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph (2) of Article 16 (Limitation on Benefits); or

(b) is entitled to benefits with respect to the dividends under paragraph (5) of that Article.

(4)

(a) Sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph (2) and paragraph (3) shall not apply in the case of dividends paid by a Regulated Investment Company (RIC) or a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT).

(b) In the case of dividends paid by a RIC, sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (2) shall apply.

(c) In the case of dividends paid by a REIT, sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (2) shall apply only if:

(i) the person beneficially entitled to the dividends is an individual holding an interest of not more than 10 percent in the REIT;

(ii) the dividends are paid with respect to a class of stock that is publicly traded and the person beneficially entitled to the dividends holds an interest of not more than 5 percent of any class of the REIT ' s stock; or

(iii) the person beneficially entitled to the dividends holds an interest of not more than 10 percent in the REIT and 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.

(d) Notwithstanding sub-paragraph (c), sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (2) shall apply with respect to dividends paid by a REIT to a listed Australian property trust ( " LAPT " ). However, if the responsible entity for the LAPT knows or has reason to know that one or more unitholders each owns 5 percent or more of the beneficial interests in the LAPT, each of such 5 percent or more unitholders shall, for purposes of this paragraph, be deemed to hold such proportion of the LAPT ' s direct interest in the REIT as equals that person ' s proportionate interest in the LAPT and shall be deemed to be beneficially entitled to the REIT dividends paid with respect thereto, and the provisions of sub-paragraph (c) shall apply to that person. For purposes of this paragraph, dividends paid with respect to REIT shares held by an LAPT shall be deemed to be paid with respect to a class of stock that is publicly traded. For these purposes, a " listed Australian property trust " means an Australian unit trust registered as a " Managed Investment Scheme " under the Australian Corporations Act in which the principal class of units is listed on a recognized stock exchange in Australia and regularly traded on one or more recognized stock exchanges (as defined in Article 16 (Limitation on Benefits)).

(5)
The above provisions of this Article shall not apply if the person beneficially entitled to the dividends, being a resident of one of the Contracting States, carries on business in the other Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident, through a permanent establishment situated in that other State, or performs in that other State independent personal services from a fixed base situated in that other State, and the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with that permanent establishment or fixed base. In that case the provisions of Article 7 (Business Profits) or Article 14 (Independent Personal Services), as the case may be, shall apply.

(6)
The term " dividends " as used in this Article means income from shares, as well as other amounts which are subjected to the same taxation treatment as income from shares by the law of the State of which the company making the distribution is a resident for the purposes of its tax.

(7)
Where a company which is a resident of a Contracting State derives profits or income from the other Contracting State, that other State may not impose any tax on the dividends paid by the company - being dividends to which a person who is not a resident of the other Contracting State is beneficially entitled - except insofar as the holding in respect of which such dividends are paid is effectively connected with a permanent establishment or a fixed base situated in that other State, nor may it impose tax on a company ' s undistributed profits, except as provided in paragraph (8), even if the dividends paid consist wholly or partly of profits or income arising in such other State.

(8)
A company which is a resident of one of the Contracting States and that has a permanent establishment in the other State or that is subject to tax in the other State on a net basis on its income or gains that may be taxed in the other State under Article 6 (Income from Real Property) or under paragraph (1) or (3) of Article 13 (Alienation of Property) may be subject in that other State to a tax in addition to the tax allowable under the other provisions of this Convention. Such tax, however, may be imposed on only the portion of the business profits of the company attributable to the permanent establishment and the portion of the income or gains referred to in the preceding sentence that is subject to tax under Article 6 (Income from Real Property) or under paragraph (1) or (3) of Article 13 (Alienation of Property) that, in the case of the United States, represents the dividend equivalent amount of such profits, income or gains and, in the case of Australia, is an amount that is analogous to the dividend equivalent amount. This paragraph shall not apply in the case of a company which:

(a) is a qualified person by reason of sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph (2) of Article 16 (Limitation on Benefits) of this Convention; or

(b) is entitled to benefits with respect to the dividends under paragraph (5) of that Article.

(9)
The tax referred to in paragraph (8) may not be imposed at a rate in excess of the rate specified in sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph (2). "